


The Grand Redesign

by rhps_brad_fan



Category: Charmed (TV)
Genre: Fate & Destiny, Friendship, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-06-30 22:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 40,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15761232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhps_brad_fan/pseuds/rhps_brad_fan
Summary: Cole Turner has been granted another chance at life by the Angels of Destiny, but there's a catch. Will some old friends be able to help him?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic started off as a prompt fill drabble (from Reddit's May fanfiction prompt fill list) and has taken on a life of it's own.   
> _May 23: Your character has been given the chance to change another’s fate, but how will they use it? (400 Words)_
> 
> It's set after the series finale, but goes AU before all of the flash forwards occur. I hope you all enjoy and any feedback is appreciated!

Piper had a tough choice to make. The Angels of Destiny had granted her and only her the chance to change Cole Turner's fate. She knew exactly why. A few years ago, he'd been such a help to her and Leo and had saved her life and essentially his, bringing them back together despite what the Elders had tried to do to pull them apart. The Angels had also informed her that he'd been the one to bring Drake into Phoebe's life, convincing her to love again. He'd also been busy now, pulling the strings from the void he was trapped in, calling in favors whenever he could to help the side of good.

The Angels of Destiny had deemed that he had earned another chance at life, but there were limitations. As things were, Cole was tipping the balance of the Grand Design from outside it and they couldn't have that, but they also couldn't allow him to come back and influence either side with powers, as his return hadn't been part of the Grand Design to begin with. As it stood, Piper was faced with bringing Cole back as a human without any powers at all, but whether he remembered anything about his past life or if he had a new one was entirely left up to her. 

Piper knew she couldn't consult Paige and especially not Phoebe on this. Phoebe was with Coop, happily married. Piper was as worried about bringing Cole back into her sister's life as she was bringing Cole back into a life where he'd have no one. She remembered how unstable he'd gotten after he'd lost Phoebe. But would he really want a life full of falsehoods either? None of it was fair to anyone, but at least if he was given another chance, he might be able to find happiness even without his memories. Still, that didn't sit right with her. How could she strip away everything that he was? 

"This shouldn't be up to me," Piper finally said aloud, knowing the Angels of Destiny were listening. "He should have a say." 

Years ago, Piper would have thought she'd have what Cole wanted sussed out -- that he'd surely choose retaining his memories so that he could insert himself into Phoebe's life again, but now... _now_ Piper wasn't so sure. She didn't exactly like the idea of doing to Cole what the Elders had done to Leo. It wasn't right and she wouldn't be part of it without getting his input. 

An Angel of Destiny appeared before her and Piper crossed her arms, knowing she'd already heard what she said before. Without another word, the Angel of Destiny waved her hand and Cole Turner stood before them. He was wearing a suit without a tie, collar open just as it had been when Piper last saw him in the void. Even in the afterlife, he'd been dressed to a tee. 

Cole took stock of his surroundings, realizing very quickly that he was in the familiar attic of Halliwell Manor. Also not unnoticed was the Angel of Destiny next to him. 

"What is this?" He asked both Piper and the Angel, still a little on guard, but trying not to seem rattled by the presence of an actual Angel of Destiny. 

"This is your second chance, Cole Turner, should you choose it," The Angel supplied and Cole looked to Piper for a more guidance, not fully trusting the Angel, for fairly obvious reasons, considering his past. 

"Do you mind being a little less cryptic?" He asked, looking moreso to Piper for that. He trusted her far more than he ever would an Angel of Destiny. 

"The Angels of Destiny have decided that you still have a place in the Grand Design. They're willing to bring you back as a human - no powers," Piper explained. "But it's up to me to decide whether or not you remember everything or if you're given a completely fresh start somewhere."

" _You_?" Cole asked, confused as to why it would be Piper's decision. 

"Well, _us_ now," Piper amended. "It wasn't right that you didn't have a say at all. I couldn't do that to anyone - not even you," She told him. 

"What if I say no?" Cole asked, as he walked over to a chair in the attic and made himself comfortable. It was a power move and he knew it. He'd put on a little bravado and keep up appearances. 

"No?" The Angel hadn't counted on that and genuinely looked shocked. Good. It was working then. 

"What if I tell you to send me back to that void?" He challenged, looking a little smug. 

"I'm afraid that is not possible. You have been influencing far too much and tipping the balance. We cannot allow that to continue," The Angel explained. "Though your efforts to help the side of good have not gone unnoticed, which is why this is the deal being offered to you."

He was quiet a moment as his options sunk in and his show of arrogance faultered. The thought honestly scared him. Either way, he couldn't influence anything. What good was being entirely human in a world so full of magical beings? How could he protect himself or anyone else? They really weren't giving him much of a choice at all. "So those are my only options? To come back as human with or without my memories?" He finally asked, looking towards the Angel of Destiny. 

"It was thought of as a kindness to offer a chance to start anew," The Angel explained. "We cannot send you back to your void, nor can we have you with any powers." 

"Who would I be? If I chose to forget, what would my life be like?" He asked and it was Piper's turn to be surprised. 

"Cole? You're seriously considering that as an option?" 

He looked sad and a little pensive as he answered. "You can't miss what you can't remember. If everything else is stripped away, I'd like to know what kind of man I'd be able to be." 

"A good one," The Angel told him without missing a beat. "You've proven you're capable of as much. The potential has always been there. You will be given a new life, but without the outside forces tipping the balance, it will be truly left up to you to decide what you do with it and the difference you make on the world." 

Cole stood up and began to pace some of the length of the attic, quietly weighing his choices. If he left everything behind it would mean he'd be rid of all the pain he'd caused and of all the pain he'd endured. He finally paused in his stride, looking at the pair. "Do it," He said softly. 

"This is a big decision, don't you think you should take some more time?" Piper asked him, concerned for what he was choosing to do to himself. She thought he was being reckless. "You won't know who you are. You won't remember _anything_. They'll put you someplace else and-" 

"And what, Piper? What else do I have to come back to if I'm coming back completely powerless? I've been there. I've done that and I felt helpless. I _was_ helpless and that's the reason everything fell apart to begin with," He reminded her. The whole Source debacle had been, in part, because he'd been so powerless to help that he'd fallen for the Seer's lies. By the time he realized, it was too late and things were never the same again. At least now he wouldn't remember what he was missing. He wouldn't know about magic or the underworld or the woman that still had his heart. 

"You'll still be powerless regardless. Do you really want to be someone else entirely?" She couldn't fathom how he could choose that, no matter how bad things had gotten. 

"When has being me ever worked in my favor for long?" Cole asked her. "There's nothing left for me here now." 

"This is what you've chosen then?" The Angel of Destiny asked him. "You wish to live a new life without the burden of your past upon you?" 

"Yes," Cole answered. It was better to look at it as a fresh start instead of simply giving up. 

"Then it is done," The Angel declared. She waved her hand and in an instant, Cole was gone. She looked to Piper. "Thank you for your input." 

"That's it? Where did he go? Where did you put him?" Piper demanded, finding herself actually concerned for her ex-brother-in-law. Even after everything that had happened between them all, there was still a small part of her that felt like he was family.

"He is exactly where he needs to be. You have played your part. Rest easy knowing that the balance has been restored." Without another word, the Angel of Destiny vanished from the room. 

"Hey! _HEY!_ " Piper yelled. She felt a little unsettled by the whole encounter and her stomach was in knots. Everything had happened quickly... too quickly. She didn't doubt it was an Angel of Destiny that they'd dealt with, but she did question whether the Angels' motives were entirely pure. She knew what she had to do as she stomped out of the attic. 

"LEO!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd been trying to stick to a once a week chapter schedule, but I just couldn't wait to post another. I hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated!

Darryl Morris had been working at his new job in Wood's Close, New York for close to two years now and he was on track to make a promotion this year. Things couldn't have been better for his family. His wife, Sheila, had recently found out they were expecting again and the pair were hoping for a little girl this time around. Mikey and Darryl Jr. were all settled in at school and this year weren't even considered the new kids anymore. Their lives had been practically stress free since leaving San Francisco for the small town life they'd found in upstate New York. Aside from the occasional holiday card or phone call here or there, they had mostly left behind the Halliwells and all the magical goings on behind them, and while they did miss their friends, their lives did seem to be all the better for it. If there was anything mystical around them now, they certainly didn't know it. 

Darryl was seated in his cop car alongside his partner, Harold. There wasn't a lot going on in the sleepy little town, not that there ever was. That was one of the things Darryl liked most about living there. It was serene and the only demons and monsters he had to deal with these days came in the form of cheap Halloween decorations. 

He sipped at his coffee, lukewarm already from the bitter chill in the air. That was one thing he'd never get used to after living in California for so long. The winters had never been so harsh. He did take comfort in the fact that at least the cold snap managed to deter what little crime went on in the area. It was too cold, even for criminals. As such, that left Darryl and his partner without much to do and they found themselves running radar on passing cars on Main Street. It was at least something to pass the time of their shift. 

The radio crackled to life, but neither man was too concerned with it. It was usually just their bored dispatcher, Sylvia, a sixty-something widow with a voice laced with years of cigarette smoke, wanting to have a chat. 

"Hey fellas," Sylvia's voice rasped above the static on the comms.

"Hey, Sylv," Darryl said to her after picking up the receiver. "You got a call for us?" He was almost a little hopeful for something to break up the monotony. 

"It had better not be another cat stuck in a tree. I'm not scaling another Red Oak in this weather just because Mrs. Neiderman can't keep track of Fluffy," Harold grumbled beside him and Darryl smirked a little.

"Nah, no cats this time. It's probably nothing, but I've gotten in a couple reports of a caucasian male, early to mid thirties, on foot headed south on the outskirts of town near where Route 9 runs through," She informed. "Someone reported he was in the middle of the road and seemed disoriented. Might've been drunk. One caller said he didn't even have a coat on! What kinda schmuck doesn't wear a coat in this weather? That's a good way to catch your death. Thought you fellas might want to check it out, that is if you don't have anything better to do." 

"We're on it, Sylv," Darryl assured her, already putting the car in drive. He glanced over to his partner. "A possible public intox sound better than a cat in a tree?" 

"So long as he's not belligerent," Harold said to him. "The belligerent ones are the _worst_." 

Darryl just smirked and drove in the direction Sylvia had instructed, navigating the side roads and shortcuts like he'd lived there all his life.

"Damn, this weather just doesn't let up, does it?" Harold asked his partner as it began to snow again. The ground had already had a nice covering of snow, but He looked at the white flakes coming down in front of them, practically causing white-out conditions. "Bet it makes you miss 'Frisco." 

Darryl shook his head and kept his eyes on the road. "No one calls it 'Frisco. No one's _ever_ called it 'Frisco," He told his partner in a way that suggested that it wasn't the first time they'd had this particular conversation. 

He turned onto the street that Sylvia had instructed them to go to and he pulled over on the side of the road. It was hard to see through the snow and he knew they'd need to go out on foot to look for the man. Darryl and Harold got out of the car. 

"I'll take the opposite side of the road," Harold offered to his partner, figuring it would be easier to find him if they split up. 

Darryl began to walk the length of the road on the shoulder, barely seeing a few feet ahead of him. The wind whipped around him, the cold air burning his eyes and sending a shiver through him. If someone was out in this cold without even a jacket, he knew it wouldn't be long until frostbite set in.

He soldiered on and finally, the snow began to slack up. Darryl spotted the outline of a man up ahead and he hurried to catch up to him, still trying to be mindful of the slick terrain. 

"Sir!" He called out. "Hey! Sir! Wood's Close PD!" 

Upon hearing him, the man turned around and Darryl stopped right in his tracks, hardly believing what he saw.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Cole Turner had realized when he'd woken up in the middle of the road was how cold he was. The chill radiated right down to his bones, almost making the throbbing headache he had pale in comparison. He sat up on the pavement and touched the back of his head, feeling the bump there where he must have hit it. He pulled back his hand and looked at his fingers, thankful to see there wasn't any blood there from the wound. 

The second thing he realized is that he didn't know where he was... or who he was. He didn't seem to know anything at all. His heart began to race at the terrifying realization and he felt a little sick at his stomach. He stood up and looked around, frantically searching for anything that seemed familiar, but nothing seemed to click. Panic gripped him. It was fair enough that he didn't know where he was. Everybody got lost once in a while, didn't they? The fact that he couldn't remember _who_ he was disturbed him on a deeper level. 

As his panic nearly consumed him, he had failed to realize he'd been smack dab in the middle of a road and that there was traffic coming his way. A car zoomed by him heading towards him and he stumbled back, just as a car on the other side of him honked their horn at him as they passed. He was rattled enough by everything else, but he knew enough to know if he wanted to live long enough to remember anything, then he needed to get out of the middle of the street. He ran over to the shoulder of the road, stumbling a bit as he hit a patch of ice on the way. Once he'd regained his balance, he wasn't sure where to go. He looked around again, hoping that he'd see a car somewhere that might have been his own, but there were none but the ones passing by. Instead, he just began to walk, trying to ignore the completely unsettled feeling he had. 

When he got a little farther down the road, he realized that maybe he might have something on him that might jog his memory or at least give him some idea of who he was. He began searching his pockets, looking for a wallet or keys or just _anything_ that might help him, but he came up empty. He pulled his suit jacket around him a little more and put his hands in his pants pockets before he resumed his walk to nowhere. In order to quell his panic over being unable to remember, he began to theorize how he could have ended up in the middle of the road without his car in sight, assuming he had a car. He looked down at himself. He was certainly dressed like a man who would have a car. He wondered if someone had dropped him off there. Maybe he'd been kidnapped and held for ransom and this was the drop off point? That idea was quickly abandoned as he thought he'd have someone there waiting to pick him up and rescue him. Maybe he'd been mugged or carjacked? That would certainly explain the lack of car and wallet and the knot on the back of his head. Someone had obviously knocked him out, stolen his valuables including his car, and dumped him in the middle of nowhere. The theory wasn't comforting, but it did make a great deal of sense to him. How else would he have ended up there?

As if things weren't bad enough already, it began to snow and he wondered briefly who he'd pissed off in a past life to have such bad luck. His teeth were chattering as he shivered against the cold and he knew that he would need to find someplace warm very soon. He couldn't really feel his fingers. He realized all too late that maybe he should have flagged down one of the passing motorists he'd seen before, but he was so bewildered by his circumstance that it hadn't occurred until they were gone. Now with the weather, he didn't know how long it would be before another car would pass by.

He was lost in his thoughts and didn't know how long he'd been walking when he heard a voice call out behind him. It took him a moment to realize the man was shouting at him. He turned, seeing the police officer standing there in the snow, looking at him, mouth agape. Maybe he looked more worse for wear than he thought.

"I don't... I don't know where I am," He admitted to the officer as he stepped closer. The snow was letting up a bit, making it easier to see him. 

" _Cole_?" The officer asked him, still looking a little bewildered himself. 

"Yeah, it is really cold out here," He agreed, mishearing what he'd said. "Look, can you tell me where I am? Maybe give me a lift to the nearest town? Or a hospital?" He asked. He wasn't exactly sure where someone went when they had amnesia. A hospital seemed like the most logical choice. A hospital would be able to check him over, see if there was some sort of neurological damage causing his memory loss. 

"You need a hospital? I didn't realize you went to hospitals," The officer, whose namebadge read D. Morris, said to him as he looked him over.

"Excuse me?" He asked, confused. "Officer, I think I've hit my head. I might need a CAT scan or an MRI," He mentioned and wondered for a moment if maybe he could be a doctor. He shook away the thought. His profession wasn't the most important detail at the moment. "I can't remember anything... How I got here, who I am," He admitted.

"You find the guy yet, Darryl? I've got nothing over here," Harold's voice crackled over the Darryl's radio, interrupting the pair. 

Darryl didn't take his eyes off of Cole as he responded to his partner. "Yeah, I've got him. We'll meet you back at the car," He told him. "Hey, wait, if you're by Rea's diner, go in and get us three coffees and get something hot to eat to go," He suggested, knowing that would buy him a little more time to figure out how in the hell to handle this situation. Harold acknowledged the request over the radio.

"Thank you. I'm freezing," Cole told him as Darryl began to lead him to the police cruiser.

Darryl couldn't believe this. He'd thought he'd left all of this craziness behind in San Francisco. Cole Turner was dead. He'd died _twice_ and he had been pretty damn sure this last time had stuck. Now he was supposed to believe that he just happened to show up across the country in Darryl's new town and conveniently had a case of amnesia? Something was up. He got him back to the car and let him sit in the back, cranking up the heat for him so that he could warm up. "You sit tight. I've got to make a call," He told him and there was no argument from the ex-demon... or maybe still half-demon... in the backseat. 

Darryl stood outside the car and pulled out his cell phone. He had a few unpleasant calls he had to make.


	4. Chapter 4

"Piper, I just don't know what we could do," Leo said to his wife as she was pacing in front of him. She had explained the situation they were dealing with and how it had all transpired in the attic earlier but Leo was still at a loss. There were so many things that didn't make sense about the whole thing. 

"See, _that_? _That_ isn't helpful right now," She said to him, a little annoyed with him. "Do we still have any of his blood on an athame? I could try to scry for him." 

"If that Angel of Destiny really made him human, we won't be _able_ to scry for him," He reminded her. "I understand why you're concerned for him, but this was his choice," He reminded his wife.

"His choice that he made in less than fifteen minutes," Piper insisted, throwing up her hands in frustration. "He couldn't have thought it through. He didn't have _time_ to think it through! I know it's Cole and I know all the things he's done to us and to Phoebe over the years, but this just feels too much like what the Elders tried to do to you. It's not right. And he did help us. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead and you'd still be an Elder with no idea about who you were before. I think he deserves at least a little bit of our concern," Piper told him, crossing her arms. 

"Okay," Leo said, a little gentler this time. He could see where she was coming from, even if it was Cole. "So, let's work through this. You said that the Angels of Destiny came to you with this today, right? And they said that Cole had earned his chance at life again?" 

"They did, but it was almost like they were just trying to get him out of the way," Piper admitted to him. "They said he was affecting the Grand Design too much." 

"What could Cole have been doing from a void between life and death that would have warranted that much attention?" Leo asked, confused about that. 

"I don't know, but they were pretty damn eager to send him on his way. Maybe he was helping other people find their way back to life when they were supposed to die? Like some sort of loophole around the Angel of Death?" She theorized, trying to think of a logical explanation. "They said he was tipping the balance." 

"Maybe we should tell Phoebe and Paige?" Leo suggested and Piper stopped pacing to look at him.

"No. No way. You know how that's going to go over with them. Paige would be looking into ways of vanquishing him again before we even got the words out and Phoebe..." She trailed, looking away for a moment. "Phoebe is happy now with Coop. We can't tell her for the same reason we didn't tell her it was Cole that helped us before," She said. It was one of the few secrets she had kept from her sisters. 

"I just don't know what else we can do here. They could have put him anywhere in the world, Piper," Leo reminded her.

"I know that, but we have to do _something_! I--" Piper paused, hearing the landline phone ringing. 

"You should get that," Leo suggested to her. "It could be Paige or Phoebe," He said, though usually Paige was known to just orb there unannounced if it were some sort of emergency situation. 

Piper rolled her eyes. Leo was closer to the phone, but she knew what he was doing. He was trying to get her to calm down by distracting her for a little while. "This isn't over," She warned her husband before moving to pick up the cordless phone from it's base. She looked at the number on the caller ID in confusion. 

"Darryl?" Piper answered the phone. She knew the calls from the Morris' had been few and far between since they'd moved and it wasn't like Piper or the others could really blame them with everything that had happened. Still, they heard from them every now and again, but it was unusual for Darryl to be calling from his cell phone. Plus, it wasn't any major holiday or birthday that Piper could recall. 

"Hey Piper," Darryl said over the phone. "Look, I think we've got a situation here," He told her. 

"Is everything alright?" Piper asked with concern. Even though they weren't all as close as they once had been, they'd never leave Darryl or his family in trouble. Piper would have Paige orb them all in an instant there to help him if he needed. 

"Not exactly. I've got a John Doe here with a case of amnesia that looks a hell of a lot like Cole," He admitted to her and Piper let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she'd been holding in.

Piper covered the phone with her hand a moment and looked to her husband. "Darryl has him in New York!" She told Leo before getting back to the conversation at hand. "Darryl, it's him. It's actually Cole, but he doesn't know who he is or remember anything about his life," She explained. 

"Yeah, I think I gathered that much," Darryl told her. "Piper, what in the hell is he doing _here_ and if you knew why didn't you give me a heads up? We found him walking on the side of the road in the middle of a snowstorm," He explained.

"I didn't know they'd send him to you. I didn't know where he'd end up," Piper admitted.

"Wait wait, so do I even want to know who the _'they'_ is in this scenario?" Darryl asked, almost afraid to know what they were dealing with. 

"They're the Angels of Destiny. They basically make sure everyone's destinies are on track and maintain the Grand Design," She explained to him.

"So you want me to believe that some _angels_ sent Cole here? After everything he did to you guys?" Darryl asked her and Piper could practically hear the roll of his eyes evident in his voice.

"They've made him completely human now, Darryl. They said they wanted to give him a second chance because he's been doing too much good in the void he was in between life and death," Piper said and Darryl was surprised about that. 

"So why did they wipe his memory and send him to me?" Darryl asked her. The two had never been particularly close, even when Cole hadn't actively been trying to kill any of them. They could have _sort of_ been considered friends at one time, but Darryl always sided with the Halliwell sisters in the end and with good reason.

"I don't know. It was Cole's choice to have his memory wiped, but he didn't know where he was going to end up. He wanted a fresh start."

"So they sent him to my town? How is that a fresh start when we know him? Plus, Wood's Close is a small community, Piper. If they really are the keepers of destiny--" 

"Angels of Destiny," Piper corrected.

"Right. If they really are who they say they are, then they should have known that we moved away from San Francisco to _get away_ from all this magic stuff. I can't handle it and my family can't handle it. Not anymore," He said firmly.

"Darryl, I know, but there's obviously got to be some reason why they dropped him there of all places. Cole's _meant_ to be there," Piper insisted. She just didn't know what that reason was yet or how Darryl factored in. "Can you just take him home with you for a while? At least until we've figured some of this out?" 

"Take him _home_? Piper, I don't think Sheila's going to go for that," Darryl told her. His wife knew all about Cole and everything that had happened. He didn't think she'd be too eager to put him up in their guest bedroom. "Besides, he's literally a dead man. How am I going to explain that? Not to Sheila, but to anyone else that might go looking into who he is?" 

"Cole's a human now. He's harmless and he doesn't even remember who he is or anything about magic. Maybe that's why they sent him to you? So that you can help him get on his feet again and show him a life without magic? Can you just give him a place to stay? At least until we can get you some money to get him settled and figure out the logistics of bringing him back to life on paper? His disappearance this last time was never ruled a homicide by the police, but a probable suicide." 

There had been more truth to that than the police working the case of his disappearance could have ever realized. She remembered how Cole had been after he returned from the wasteland and the divorce was finalized. With all of those demonic powers he'd gained coursing through him, he'd really gone off the rails and he had eventually become suicidal. Piper felt a sickening twinge of guilt knowing none of them, herself included, had ever tried to get him the help he needed, even after he'd desperately tried to trick them into vanquishing him when his own efforts had failed. Eventually, his own path of self destruction had led to the Charmed Ones vanquishing him in an alternate timeline. Both Piper and Phoebe didn't remember any of it, but Paige still did and at this moment, Piper was thankful she didn't. She wondered briefly how things might have turned out if they had made more of an effort when he'd first returned from the wasteland, but pushed those thoughts away as quickly as they had come. There was no use on dwelling on the past. They couldn't change it, but maybe they could help him now. Maybe it was more than just Cole's second chance. 

"And how am I going to explain that to him? How is it supposed to be a fresh start without his memories if he's crashing with me and my family who already know him, even if he doesn't know himself?" Darryl asked her seriously. 

Piper knew he had a point and thought about it a moment. She knew there was no good way of going about all of this. "Just tell him you don't know why he was there, but that you know him. Be as honest with him as you can without mentioning magic. Tell him that he disappeared after his divorce and everyone had reason to believe he was dead, so he was declared dead?" She offered, knowing it wasn't perfect, but it was the best she could do at the moment. "Please, Darryl?" Piper asked her friend. 

Darryl sighed and gave a glance back to his patrol car and the man huddled inside it. 

"Alright. I'll do what I can, but Sheila isn't going to like me bringing him around," Darryl finally relented.

"Thank you. Just remember they put him there for a reason. We're going to do everything we can to figure out why. In the meantime, I'll have some money wired over later today for him so that you can help him find another place there," She offered, hoping that would help a little. P3 was still going strong and without having to replace so many windows and so much furniture in the house every week due to all the collateral damage, she knew they could budget for helping him out a little. They hadn't even had to replace that grandfather clock in years. That monthly savings alone would be enough to pay the rent in a place in a small town like Wood's Close. It was the least Piper felt they could do. She still felt like she owed it to Cole for his help in the void. 

"Alright. I'll talk to you later," Darryl told her and the pair said their goodbyes before hanging up.

"So he's with Darryl?" Leo asked his wife, still trying to make sense of it all. 

Piper nodded. "Uh huh. And we're going to need to go run some errands if we're going to get him some money for a place." 

"We're supporting him now?" Leo asked, just to clarify.

"Just until he's back on his feet and we're able to get him legally bought back to life," She mentioned. "Really, those Angels of Destiny could have been more considerate and given him a stipend or something," She suggested.

Leo just smiled a little and shook his head. "We'll have to see if they have a suggestion box," He said. He got up from his chair and grabbed his coat. "Let's head out. Maybe we can get some of this done before we have to pick up the boys from school."

Piper smiled, thankful that he was supporting her on this. She grabbed her own coat from the rack and followed him out.


	5. Chapter 5

Darryl went back to his patrol car just as his partner was approaching with the carrier of coffees and a to-go bag from Rea's Diner. 

"How's our snowy hitchhiker?" Harold asked and Darryl rolled his eyes at him. 

"He wasn't hitching a ride. He should be defrosting in the back now," He admitted to him. "Look, I know him, but he doesn't remember who he is," Darryl told his partner. He thought he should get that out of the way before it turned into a whole big thing with Harold. He had been working with his partner for over a year now and he knew that he'd latch onto the case of an amnesiac John Doe in a heartbeat if it meant even the smallest hint of excitement in their sleepy little town. Darryl surmised it was probably the influence from all of the cheap paperback mystery novels Harold read. That was one mystery best to nip in the bud before it blossomed into a full-scale investigation.

"Shit... What are we waiting around here for? Shouldn't we get him to a hospital?" Harold asked him, eyes wide with wonderment at the situation they'd been presented with. 

"I'll take him to get checked out after I get you back on station," Darryl told him. Their shifts were almost over and would be completely anyway by the time they reached the station through all the snow. He knew that Cole's memory loss wasn't something that the doctors would be able to fix, but he did worry about the time he spent outside in the elements. In this sort of harsh cold, frostbite could have easily set in. If what Piper had said about Cole being made human rang true, he knew that he would certainly be as susceptible as anyone else now.

"Alright," Harold almost seemed a little disappointed that he wouldn't be coming along, but he understood it really wasn't a two officer job, especially if Darryl already knew the guy. 

The pair got into their patrol car with Darryl behind the wheel again.

"Are you warming up back there?" Darryl asked Cole, glancing to the back. The car was nice and toasty warm, a stark contrast to the biting cold outside.

"Yes, thank you," Cole told him. "I can finally feel my fingers again," He mentioned with a smile. 

"That's good. My partner Harold's got some coffee and food for you and as soon as I get him back to the station, I'm going to take you to the hospital to get you checked out if you're alright with that," He said to him. He knew that in the past, the Cole that he knew probably would have brushed off the suggestion of a hospital, but it took him by surprise when he was all too eager to agree. 

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I don't know how long I was out there unconscious," He admitted to him, his hand absentmindedly going to the back of his head where there was a fairly large knot from where he must have hit it. "Maybe they can tell me why I can't remember anything," He said hopefully.

"Darryl says he knows you," Harold mentioned as he handed Cole one of the cups through the little window in the partition cage in the patrol car. "That's decaf, by the way," He added.

"Thanks," Cole said, gratefully accepting the hot beverage offered to him. He took a sip and winced a little at the burnt taste of the brew.

Harold smirked as he saw his reaction. "Yeah, Rea's Diner isn't exactly known for their gourmet coffee, but it's not like we've got a Starbucks around here or anything, so we make do," He told him. 

"You, uh, you mentioned that someone knows me?" Cole asked, after clearing his throat.

"I do," Darryl offered, hoping to get it out of the way relatively quickly as he began to drive them towards the police station. "Your name is Cole Turner. You lived in San Francisco when I did and you were married to one of my friends. You two had a pretty messy breakup and divorce and then you just disappeared," He explained, keeping it simple for now and hoping that Harold rather than Cole wouldn't press him for more details. 

Cole was relieved that the officer knew him, but he still felt unsettled by the fact that his life sounded so bleak. He wasn't sure if it was the bad coffee, the possible concussion, the explanation of who he was, or some combination of the three that was making him feel a little queasy, but he was all the same. 

"Judging by the weather, I'm guessing we're not in San Francisco anymore?" Cole asked him, glancing out at the snowy terrain that was passing by. 

"Wood's Close, New York," Harold helpfully supplied. "Population: Not too many." Harold had no more than gotten out the words before Darryl was rolling his eyes. That population joke was the same tired one he trotted out anytime they came across someone just passing through. 

"How did I end up here then?" Cole asked and Darryl knew how loaded that question was. 

"I don't know," He lied. "I hadn't heard from you in a couple years, but maybe you heard my family and I moved and wanted to visit?" He suggested as a theory he already knew not to be true, but Cole and Harold needed to believe it. 

"So we were good friends then? I just don't understand why I wouldn't be in contact for years if we were," Cole mentioned. 

"Like I said, it was a messy breakup between you and your ex-wife. You were in pretty bad shape for a while," Darryl said, understating the situation quite a bit as he pulled into the police station. 

"I guess this is my stop," Harold said. "You should move up here and keep Darryl company," He suggested to Cole. He looked over to his partner. "See you tomorrow," He said to him before leaving the warmth of the vehicle for the freezing outdoors. 

Cole went ahead and moved up to the front seat as well, keeping his time outside as brief as possible. He buckled up and Darryl began to pull out of the parking lot. The pair were quiet for a while as Darryl drove slowly in the direction of the hospital. 

"How bad could my life have been that I just up and disappeared and no one was looking for me?" Cole finally asked, breaking the silence. He just couldn't reconcile that a divorce had made him abandon his life without a trace.

Darryl gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. He foolishly hadn't expected Cole to dwell so much on things. He kept his eyes focused on the road ahead as he spoke. "There was a missing persons report filed and an investigation. When you didn't turn up, everyone thought you were dead... that it might've been a suicide," He said to him, unsure about how far the lies should go. He knew that was at least steeped in truth. Cole had been suicidal for a time and he really had been dead. 

"Oh..." Cole said before falling silent again. Even though he was getting the answers he needed, they weren't the answers he _wanted_. He'd honestly felt better when he was hit with the blind panic of the unknown. At least then there had been _hope_ of a better life waiting for him. 

Darryl knew he wasn't handling this well. He stole a glance at the man seated next to him and he did feel a little twinge of guilt gnawing at him. "You know," He began. "For what it's worth... I'm glad you're not dead," He told him. "You're more than welcome to stay with me and my family until we figure all this out," He offered, knowing Sheila was surely going to kill him for opening their home to a former demon. He'd have to deal with that later.


	6. Chapter 6

Their trip to the hospital had been fairly uneventful. Cole had been checked out and assured that the only thing wrong with him, barring his memory loss, was a small concussion. They had done both an MRI and a CT as well as some blood tests, but the results wouldn't be ready for a few days. Darryl had provided what little he knew of Cole's medical background and had given his address and phone number as the contact information, given that Cole was to be staying with him for the foreseeable future. All of that had been the easy part. Now, as Darryl and Cole were entering Darryl's house, the cop was uneasy about telling his wife about their new house guest.

"Honey?" Sheila called out when she heard the door. It was evident from the heavenly aroma wafting through the place that Sheila had been busy cooking dinner. She went through the house and towards the entryway. "You're late. Was it Mrs. Neiderman's cat again?" She asked good naturedly.

"Not exactly," Darryl called out, just as Sheila rounded the corner and saw just what - or rather _who_ \- had held him up at work. 

"Oh my god..." She said softly, hand instinctively going to her small baby bump protectively. 

"Honey, you, uh, you remember Cole, don't you?" Darryl lamely asked. From her reaction, it was pretty obvious she did. Darryl could see his wife was shocked and he took the opportunity to continue, knowing he probably wouldn't be allowed a word in edgewise for a while. "He doesn't remember who he is and he needs to stay with us for a while." 

"Can I see you in the kitchen for a minute?" Sheila asked, but it was more of a command than a question. 

"Sure, honey," Darryl said to her. "Cole, the living room's right through there," He said, motioning towards it before following his wife into the kitchen. 

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing bringing him here?" Sheila accused her husband once they were out of earshot. 

"Honey--" 

"Don't _honey_ me," Sheila said, cutting him off. "You brought a _demon_ into our home." 

"We found him walking on the side of the road during the blizzard earlier. He doesn't know who he is," Darryl insisted to her. "And Piper said--"

"You talked to the Halliwells? Did they bring him here?" Sheila asked him. 

"No, just Piper. She said that some sort of angels of destiny sent him here and that he's human. They brought him back to life and wiped his memory." 

"The sisters?"

"No, the angels," Darryl corrected. 

"Why would angels send him here? After everything he did to Phoebe and the rest of that family?" Sheila asked him. 

"I don't know," Darryl said with a sigh. "But apparently he's meant to be here." 

"If they're angels, they should be able to see that we don't want him here. We moved away to get away from all this craziness," Sheila insisted. 

"I know... I know, but I'm not sure that we really have much of a choice, unless you want to argue with an angel," He admitted. 

"Get one down here. I'll bet they've never had to deal with the wrath of an upset pregnant woman," Sheila said, but there was no real fire behind her words. 

"Piper said they'd send some money so that we can help him to find a place, so he won't be here long," He told his wife. "He's got no place else to go... and aren't you always saying we need to set a good example for the boys?" He asked her. 

Sheila sighed. "You're impossible, you know that?" She asked her husband with the smallest hint of a smile. She wasn't happy, but she did have to marvel at how he could still find a way to make something good come out of the situation. "Alright. He can stay, but the _first_ sign that he's evil, he's out. Do you understand? I will not have that craziness going on in our house," She warned him.

"I absolutely agree," Darryl told her, moving to put his arms around her. "Does this mean I don't have to sleep on the couch tonight?" He asked her. 

"Time will tell," Sheila teased him before stealing a kiss. "We should probably get back in there," She told him, leading the way. 

When the couple got to the living room, Cole looked over and quickly stood up from the seat he'd taken.

"Look, it was very nice of you to offer, but I've been thinking that maybe this was a mistake," Cole said to the couple. "The last thing I'd want to do is impose," He said apologetically. He wasn't exactly sure _where_ he'd go or how he'd get there, but he felt awkward staying with them.

"Nonsense," Sheila insisted. "I'm sorry for reacting the way I did," She apologized. "I was just... _surprised_ to see you again. You've been gone a long time and we're a long way from San Francisco," She told him, thinking that was as good of an excuse as any. If Darryl was right and he really didn't have his memory and he wasn't a demon, Sheila supposed it wasn't fair to hold his past misdeeds against him. "It was just a bit of a shock," She told him. 

"You're more than welcome to stay here, Cole," Darryl added, proud of his wife for at least trying to come around to this situation. He knew it wasn't ideal, but there wasn't much any of them could do about it. 

"I'll go call down the boys for dinner," Sheila said to the pair. "Go wash up and set the table," She instructed Darryl. She looked to Cole. "I hope you like chicken parm," She told him before going upstairs to get the boys. 

A little while later and the five of them were all seated at the table and well into dinner. 

"So... does he like, live with us now?" Mikey asked, breaking the silence and giving a glance over to Cole. Sheila had explained the situation a little to the boys before they had come down to dinner, but hadn't really gone in depth with them. 

"For the time being, until we get things sorted out," Darryl told his eldest son. 

"So what's it like? Not remembering anything?" He asked, addressing Cole.

"Mikey!" Sheila chided the boy. 

"No, it's okay," Cole assured, not wanting him to get in trouble for his curiosity. He looked to the child. "It's a little scary," He admitted to the boy and that certainly wasn't a lie. He still felt a little knot in his stomach from the anxiety of not remembering anything about himself or his life. "But your Dad has been very nice and since he and your mom know me, it's a little less scary, since they might be able to tell me something that will jog my memory," He tried to explain to him. 

"But is it just like a big blank? How can you remember some stuff like how to use a fork or what words mean and not remember who you are?" Mikey asked him. 

"The way the doctors explained it to me, it's called retrograde amnesia," Cole mentioned. "They said that's just how it works. It has to do with the part of the brain that's been affected, I guess," He said.

"So do you remember any movies or games or anything?" Darryl Jr. chimed in. He was a couple years younger than his older brother and liked to follow his brother's lead more often than not.

Cole shook his head after thinking a moment. "No, nothing at all," He told the boys. 

"Cool! That means you can watch stuff and play video games like it's the first time again," Mikey said to him, liking where his little brother's line of thinking had been. "After dinner, we'll have to show you Pokemon," He insisted. 

Cole looked a little lost and looked to Darryl and Sheila for help. "What's a Pokemon? Is that important? Should I know what that is?" 

Darryl smiled. "Don't worry. I don't think you knew what that was _before_ you lost your memory," He said with a little laugh. "It's a video game... and a card game... and I think some sort of cartoon," He said. "Go easy on him, boys. He's had a hard day." 

"Okay, but _everybody_ knows that, Dad. He's gonna need to know this stuff! Movies, TV, video games, music, sports... If he doesn't know that stuff, he won't be able to function," Mikey insisted, with all the enthusiasm of a ten year old. 

"Well, if it's that important, you two had better teach me then," Cole said with a small smile, humoring the kids. 

"C'mon then," Darryl Jr. insisted, already hopping up and ready to go show him. 

"Ah ah ah!" Sheila chided. "Finish your dinner first. If you don't have room for your artichokes, you don't have room for dessert," She said to the boy and he slunk back down into his seat. 

" _Okay_..." The boy agreed, pushing the green vegetables around on his plate. 

"Hey, artichokes are pretty great," Cole offered, trying to help. "They're one of my favorites," He told him. 

"You remembered that?" Darryl asked him, surprised at that. 

"I... I don't know," Cole admitted. "I guess maybe I did?" He offered with a shrug, but it felt really encouraging. So far he knew that his name was Cole Turner. He was a divorcee from San Francisco and that he liked artichokes. It was small, but it was a start.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a few days and Cole was settling in well with the Morris family, but he was getting a little restless just sticking around their house. The weather had been making it pretty impossible to go out, so when the opportunity of a clear day presented itself, he knew that they couldn't waste it. Darryl had the day off and they were going to go and try to get the ball rolling on their end to get Cole legally brought back to life. 

"What exactly is it that I did?" Cole finally found himself asking Darryl as they were heading out to the car. 

Darryl looked over to him a little confused. He could think of a whole helluva lot of things that Cole had done over the years, but surely he wasn't referring to any of them now. 

"I mean, as a profession. I had to have a job, right?" Cole asked him, seeing how visibly baffled he'd been. 

"Oh... You were a lawyer," Darryl told him, a little relieved that was all he meant. "You were a DA back in San Francisco, but I don't think you'd be able to practice law here," He mentioned as they were both getting into the car. 

"I would need to pass the state bar in order to be licensed in the state of New York, right?" Cole asked. Somehow he'd retained that much knowledge about the subject. 

"Yeah... Is that something you want to pursue? We can look into it while we're out today," Darryl offered. He knew that would be a lengthy process, so it would be good to start as soon as they could. 

"It might be best. I've got to do something, right? And the doctors did say I needed to do things to try to jog my memory," He mentioned. "At the very least, maybe we could stop by the library and see if I could get some law books," He suggested. 

"That's a good idea. We'll be near there anyway. I've got to stop by the station while we're out and it's right across the street," Darryl told him as he began to drive. "We've also got to get you some more clothes," He said, giving him a quick glance. Borrowing some of Darryl's clothes just wasn't cutting it. They didn't fit him well. 

"You know, I don't know how I'm going to repay you for all of this," Cole said to him. He didn't want to be a burden to him and his family. 

"Don't worry about it," Darryl told him. "Your ex-wife's family has sent some money from your estate," He partially lied. He knew that there really was no estate and that when Cole had been declared deceased and his assets had gone to Phoebe, she'd donated everything to charity, not wanting to have anything to do with any of it. 

"You've talked to them?" Cole asked him hopefully. "Do you think they'd be open to talking to me? Maybe it might trigger something with my memory," He suggested. "You said they were the closest thing I have to family, right?" 

"Yeah, I guess they are but... I really don't think that's a good idea," Darryl said, trying to remain diplomatic about the situation. He couldn't tell Cole about everything that had happened - Piper had said as much and he was sure Cole wouldn't ever believe it anyway. It would only scare him off. "Look, things with you two and her family were... _messy_ ," He said, putting it delicately. "Maybe eventually, but it's for the best for all of you right now." 

"Right," Cole said, sounding a little disappointed, but he trusted Darryl's judgment. He looked out the window as Darryl drove them further into town and they were soon parked outside of the Wood's Close police station. 

"C'mon. We'll just be a few minutes inside the station and then we'll head over to the library," Darryl said, already getting out of the car and Cole followed suit.


	8. Chapter 8

The police station was pretty small - practically nothing in comparison to Darryl's precinct back in San Francisco, but the WCPD managed. Sylvia was dispatching again and Harold was at his desk, catching up on paperwork instead of out patrolling and nearby another officer was getting ready to go out on duty. Her nameplate read V. Pierce. 

"Who's the new guy with Morris?" The young woman asked Harold, seeing the pair enter the station. 

Harold glanced up from what he was doing to look. "Oh, that's the John Doe I was telling you about that we found the other day that Darryl took home," He mentioned, looking up to her. He could see that she was intrigued. "You should go introduce yourself, Val," He suggested to her. 

"You trying to set me up, Harold?" She asked him. 

Harold shrugged a little. "You've already turned me down enough," He told her and she gave a little smirk. 

"Well, if you were as attractive as him, you might just have a chance," She teased him. "Still wouldn't change the personality though." 

" _Ouch_ ," Harold said, putting a hand over his heart. "Way to kick a guy when he's down," He joked. 

"You'll get over it," Val told him before making her way across the room to Darryl and his guest. "Harold tells me this is your John Doe. Couldn't miss the opportunity to meet you. We don't get a lot of excitement around this place. I'm Valerie Pierce," She introduced, extending her hand to Cole.

Cole glanced over to the young woman and was taken by how she looked. Her dark hair fell in loose waves just past her shoulders and complimented her warm bronze skintone.

"Cole Turner," He introduced, as he shook her hand, but his gaze didn't leave hers. 

"So you _do_ have a name?" She asked with a smile.

Cole laughed a little. "So I'm told," He said.

"So... what are you two doing around here? I thought this was your day off, Morris?" She asked Darryl, who was grabbing a few files from the drawer in his desk. 

"Just grabbing some paperwork that I need to work on," Darryl mentioned. "Then we're going to get to work getting Cole here brought back to life," He mentioned and Valerie raised an eyebrow at that. 

"You've been missing long enough to be declared dead?" She asked, sounding almost impressed by the feat. 

"That's what he tells me," Cole admitted with a little shrug. 

"Good luck. I'm sure the paperwork's going to be a bitch. Let me know if I can help somehow," Valerie offered the pair. "This mean you're going to stick around for a while?" She asked him. 

Cole nodded. "I don't really know where else I would go," He admitted to her. 

She smiled. "It'll be nice to have someone new in town then," She said to him.

"I'll see you around then?" Cole asked her. 

"You can count on it," She said with a grin. She glanced to the clock on the far wall behind him. "I should probably get going and go out on patrol," She mentioned. "It was nice to meet you, Cole Turner," She said, shaking his hand again. "Don't be a stranger. Darryl, make sure you show him the ropes around here," She advised. She sauntered off, pausing only to grab her coat on the way out to her patrol car. Cole was still watching her walk away. 

"Don't get any ideas," Darryl warned him with a look, seeing his interest. 

"Hmm? No, I wasn't--" Cole stammered, obviously caught staring. 

"Uh huh. She's nice, but I think she's trouble," He told him. "And that's exactly what I think we need to keep you away from for a while." Darryl grabbed the last of the files he needed from his desk. "C'mon. I've got everything I need here," He told him. 

By the time the pair had run their errands and arrived back at the Morris household, Cole had a pile of law books from the library, the makings of a new wardrobe that actually fit him, and a head start on getting himself legally declared alive again. He'd done some research while at the library and had figured out what documents he would need in order to have a meeting with the Social Security Administration in order to get himself brought back into the land of the living as far as the government was concerned. The good news was that they were relatively common documents. The bad news was it would mean having to contact the Halliwells again and Darryl wasn't looking forward to that at all. He knew the more involved they got with things back in San Francisco, the more questions Cole might have. Still, it was necessary. 

Cole had retreated into the guest room with his law books, wanting to do more research into what would be required of him to pass the New York State Bar exam and that had left Darryl to make the dreaded phone call alone. After checking in on the boys and Sheila, Darryl went into the study and dialed the familiar number. 

"Darryl?" Piper answered, having been surprised that he was calling so soon. It had only been a few days, but part of her had still worried that something else was going on. It bothered her that she still hadn't been able to figure out why the Angels of Destiny had practically deposited Cole on Darryl's doorstep and she'd spent the last few days alongside Leo trying to figure it out. "Is something wrong?" 

"No, no, everything's fine," Darryl was quick to assure her, hearing the edge in her voice. "Look, we're going to need some things if we're going to get Cole legally declared alive again. There's a whole lot of red tape I think we're going to run into, but it would be easier if we had an old driver's license, his social security card, his birth certificate, that death certificate, and any other photo IDs he might have had laying around," He mentioned. 

"I don't know if I can help you with that. I mean, I can probably go get a copy of his death certificate, but that's gonna be the extent of it," Piper admitted to him.

"What? You guys don't have any of his identification? Not even his birth certificate?" Darryl asked her, obviously not pleased. 

"Why would we? He was vanquished! It's not like we thought he was going to come back someday," Piper said and Darryl could practically hear her rolling her eyes at him. 

"It's just going to be really difficult without it," Darryl told her. "He won't be able to rent a place or get a bank account or a job or be able to register to take the bar," He listed off. 

"He wants to take the bar? He wants to practice law again?" Piper asked, surprised at that turn of events. "Is he getting his memory back?" She didn't think that was the deal with the Angels of Destiny, but then again, she didn't understand why they had done what they'd done in the first place. 

"I don't think so, no, but I think on some level, he did retain a lot of his knowledge of the law," He admitted. "We went to the library today to do some research and he was able to cut through all the jargon and get right to the point of everything we looked up," He mentioned. "I don't think he's going to have any problems getting his license to practice law here so long as we're able to bring him back to life first," He mentioned. "Are you sure Phoebe didn't keep anything?" 

Piper sighed. "Honestly? I don't know, but I don't really think I can ask her. You were here. You know how things went that last time. By then, she was absolutely finished with him and just wanted everything to be over with. We donated pretty much everything we could of his," She admitted. 

"Yeah, I know. I helped haul the boxes," Darryl mentioned. "But things like his wallet wouldn't have been in that stuff."

"He probably had it on him when he was vanquished," She realized. 

"By the way, how does _that_ work? I mean, I get the whole demon-vanquish thing, but it destroys clothes and stuff in their pockets too without making ashes?" Darryl questioned. That just didn't seem logical to him. 

"Huh. You know, I never really thought about that," Piper mused. "Then again, it is _magic_ though. It's best not to think about it too much."

"Yeah, I guess, but something like a cell phone would be hard to melt, wouldn't it?" Darryl continued. "I would think it would leave some sort of trace..." 

"I'll be sure to check the next time we have to vanquish someone if their cell phone melts," She said dryly.

"Right," Darryl said, trying to get back on track. "Well, it'd really be a big help if you could ask Phoebe if she kept anything. I mean, just the birth and death certificates would help, but a photo ID would be even better. Maybe even documents from their marriage and divorce," He suggested.

"I don't really know how helpful his birth certificate is going to be. He was born in the 1800s," She mentioned. 

" _Seriously_? Look, if you can get it, we'll deal with that once we have it," He said to her. "Anything you get will hopefully help," He said to her. 

"I'll do what I can," Piper assured him, but she had no idea how she was going to do this without either of her sisters becoming suspicious.


	9. Chapter 9

Piper had been able to pretty easily obtain copies of Cole's birth and death certificates without much trouble, but as she and Leo were standing outside her sister's door with their boys in tow, she knew this was going to be the most difficult task yet. They were meeting at Phoebe's house for dinner with her and Coop. Paige and Henry were set to meet them there as well and though Victor had been invited, he already had plans to be out of town. Surprisingly enough, Coop had turned out to be quite the cook and he had been wanting to have the family over for a while now.

Leo rang the doorbell and soon enough, Phoebe opened the door. 

"Come in! Let me see my favorite nephews," Phoebe urged, already holding her arms out to take one of the boys. She was always so excited to see the boys and took her job as aunt very seriously. 

Piper handed over Chris to her. "Watch out with those earrings," She warned her sister, knowing that Chris would probably try to tug on the shiny hoops her sister was sporting. 

"You're not going to play with my earrings, are you Chris?" Phoebe asked the little boy, who giggled at the voice she was using. 

"No," The little boy said simply, leaning his head against her shoulder. 

"See? He's a good boy," Phoebe said with a smile. "And so is his big brother," She said, addressing Wyatt who was still holding Leo's hand. 

"Are Paige and Henry here yet?" Piper asked as she shrugged off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack near the door. She kept her cross body purse slung across her though. 

"No, not yet. Paige called a little while ago and said they might be running a little bit late. Henry was still at work," She admitted, bouncing a little on her feet as she walked with Chris in her arms. She led them into the living room, where she'd already had a playpen set up for her nephews along with a bunch of toys to keep them entertained. She normally had it set up whenever they had the boys over. 

"Leo, why don't you stay here with the boys while I talk to Phoebe for a second?" Piper suggested as Phoebe was setting Chris down. 

"Is something wrong?" Phoebe asked her sister, looking over at her with concern. 

" _No_..." Piper was quick to insist. She went over and guided her sister into another room. "I was just wondering if uh... If you still had any of Cole's things?" She asked her, figuring there was no sense in tip-toeing around what she needed to ask her.

Phoebe's expression changed. "Oh my god, what is it? Is he back? Do we need to start working on a vanquish?" She asked, concerned. 

Piper knew from the expression on Phoebe's face that she couldn't tell her sister the truth - at least not yet. "Cole's old firm reached out," She fibbed. "It was just a paperwork thing," She mentioned and she was relieved to see Phoebe's expression soften, but there was also something else there that she couldn't quite place. Was it sadness? Disappointment? Piper pushed it aside for now.

"Why would they be calling you? What kind of stuff do they need?" Phoebe asked her. 

"Well, that was the last address and phone number they had for you other than his penthouse," Piper said, coming up with that on the spot. "They just wanted to know if you had a copy of his driver's license or any other legal documents," She mentioned. "There's some sort of paperwork issue." 

Phoebe sighed. "I don't even know what I still have," She admitted. After she'd purged most of his things, the little she'd kept would have needed to survive two more moves since then. She began to lead her sister upstairs to her own attic. "If there's anything, it's up here," She admitted as they climbed the stairs. She opened the door to the attic and they went in. It was a little smaller than the attic at the manor and seemed more cramped with all of the boxes Phoebe was storing there as well. They were cardboard, stacked two or three boxes high in most cases. 

Piper followed Phoebe in, watching as her sister went over to one stack of boxes in particular and lifted the top box off and placed it aside before digging into the middle one. It seemed to Piper that she knew exactly where the things would be. She went over and stood next to Phoebe, looking into the box. Inside lay Phoebe's first wedding album, laying right on top of everything. Just as Phoebe began to reach for it to move it, Piper reached out to stop her, realizing that the possibility of a premonition might not be the best idea right now. 

"I know all of this must be hard to go through," Piper said to her, feeling guilty for having to lie to her. "Why don't you let me go through this and see if there's anything they might need. I can handle all of it," She suggested. 

Phoebe looked a little grateful for the reprieve from the trip down memory lane and Piper wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want to re-live it or if it was because some part of her still loved Cole. At this point, she wasn't going to ask. It was hard enough lying to her. She couldn't open that can of worms too.

"Thanks," Phoebe said to her. "I think everything should be in this box or the one underneath," She mentioned. "I'm going to go downstairs and see if Coop needs any help in the kitchen," She said to her. 

"I'll be down in a little bit," Piper assured her with a nod, thankful that Phoebe wasn't going to stick around as she went through the box. She didn't want to have to lie to her any more than she already had. Plus, if she found some things she thought Darryl and Cole could use, she didn't want Phoebe asking questions.

Once her sister had left the attic, Piper got to work going through the boxes. Most of the things Phoebe had kept were pictures or small mementos of their time together, but it still surprised Piper just how much her sister still had. There were photo albums, Phoebe's diary from that time, a scrapbook, one of the stuffed toys Cole had purchased for their unborn baby, and of course the sonogram. There was even one of Cole's dress shirts neatly folded in the bottom of the box along with a bottle of his cologne. She went through the photo albums and took a few pictures from them and set them aside, unsure if she was going to send them along with the rest of the things yet. She also swiped the cologne and the shirt, figuring a little familiarity might do him good and that they might serve him better than they were Phoebe. 

She rifled through the rest of the next box, finding some papers within that at least had Cole's social security number on them, which she thought might be helpful and she was able to find an old driver's license that apparently had never been vanquished with him the first time or it hadn't been thrown out when he'd gotten it renewed at some point. Either way, it was an official photo ID and exactly what Piper had hoped for. 

She put all the things she'd gathered into her bag, which was still slung over her shoulder. Piper then put everything else back where it went, hoping that Phoebe wouldn't be going through the boxes again anytime soon. Now all she had to do was get through dinner without letting any of it slip to her sisters or their husbands. She knew it might be easier said than done. 

Piper went downstairs and put her bag down near the coat rack before going into see Leo with the kids.

"Did you find what you needed?" Leo asked his wife quietly and Piper gave a nod. 

"And then some," She assured. She'd have the things in the mail and on their way to Wood's Close, New York by morning.


	10. Chapter 10

It was later that week when the box from San Francisco finally arrived in Wood's Close. Darryl had known Piper had found some things and was sending them, but he was honestly shocked that a box was necessary. He had been expecting a large envelope at best. He carried the box to the den where Cole had law books strewn out on the desk, pretty engrossed in his studies. He looked up when he heard the door open to the room though. 

"Mail call," Darryl said to him, bringing in the box. 

"That for me?" He asked, genuinely surprised and Darryl gave a nod as he set it down in front of him. 

"Yeah. It's from your ex-sister-in-law," He mentioned. Darryl grabbed a letter opener from the desk and cut through the tape at the top of the box. "I have no idea what she sent. I figured it would just be whatever documents she could find," He mentioned. 

Cole stood up from his seat and peered into the box after Darryl had opened it. He pulled out a manila folder on top and gave the documents inside a glance. There were copies of a birth certificate, a death certificate, a marriage license, both a divorce decree and a divorce certificate, his law degree, and an old California driver's license. 

"Looks like everything's all here," Cole mentioned and Darryl was thankful he hadn't looked too closely at the birth certificate, though he imagined Piper had probably included a copy with a forged date like the one Cole and Phoebe had submitted for their marriage certificate and not his original one. It would have raised too many questions both then and now. 

Cole placed the folder aside on the desk, knowing he'd have to go through the documents later. He looked into the box again, pulling out a pale blue dress shirt. He held it up to himself, seeing it was the right size. He set that aside as well. He pulled out the bottle of cologne next, removing the cap and taking a whiff. 

"Anything?" Darryl asked him. "I read somewhere that familiar scents might trigger memories," He mentioned, though he doubted the smell of cologne was enough to overpower angel induced memory loss. 

Cole shook his head. "No, but I like it," He said with a little shrug, putting the cap back on and setting it down on the desk. He reached into the box again and found a small photo album inside as the last of the contents. As he picked it up a note fell out that had been tucked in it's pages. 

Cole bent down and picked up the handwritten note, reading it to himself:

 

"Cole, 

Darryl's told me about what you're going through and I hope you're getting along well considering the circumstances. This is all I could find of your things. I'm sorry that there isn't more, but hopefully the documents will help you. I also included this photo album. Darryl and Sheila can help point out everyone, and I'm sure they have more pictures too. I hope you understand why it's better for everyone if you don't try to contact Phoebe, but if you need anything, my husband Leo and I are here for you. 

Sincerely, 

Piper Halliwell"

 

Cole put the note on the desk and then opened up the photo album. The first photo he was greeted with was one from Piper and Leo's wedding. Piper and Leo were in the middle of the photo. Prue and Darryl were on one side of the happy couple and then Cole and Phoebe were on the opposite side. They all looked so happy. 

"That's Phoebe? My ex?" He asked Darryl and the other man nodded. "She's beautiful," He said to him, still staring at the photo.

Darryl had been worried about whether seeing Phoebe would trigger some sort of memories for him, but it seemed they were in the clear. He knew Cole would have been having some stronger emotion than that about seeing her again. Still, he thought it best not to let him dwell too much on her. "That right there is Piper - the one that sent the box," Darryl pointed out. "There's Leo, her husband. And that's Piper and Phoebe's sister Prue. She passed away not too long after this," He admitted. 

"That's terrible," Cole said, shaking his head. He looked at the photo for a moment more before turning the page. There were some more photos of Cole and Phoebe, some candids from their rehearsal dinner, a couple of the short lived impromptu bachelor party in Cole's hotel room with the guys, and some from their wedding day - after the dark ceremony. There were some more of the family on holidays as well. 

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing out the other brunette and then redhead in the photos. 

"That's their half-sister, Paige. They didn't find out about her until after Prue passed away," Darryl admitted to him. "We've got some more photo albums around here somewhere if you want to have a look later, but you'll have to wait until Sheila gets home." 

"Where'd she go out to?" Cole asked curiously. He'd been in the den most of the day studying for the bar exam. 

"Valerie took her out shopping for the baby," He told him. 

"Valerie? The cop from the station the other day?" Cole asked. 

"The one you couldn't take your eyes off of? Yeah," Darryl teased with a smirk. 

"Can you blame me?" Cole asked him.

"I've got a pregnant wife and I like not sleeping on the couch, so I'm just gonna leave it at that," Darryl said to him and Cole smiled. 

"I didn't realize she was friends with Sheila," He admitted. The way Darryl had introduced Valerie and talked about her afterwards, it didn't seem like she was anything but a co-worker. 

"Well, she's only been here for a few months, so Sheila's sort of taken it upon herself to welcome her here, since we were the new people in town not so long ago," He admitted with a shrug. "They've become good friends. Val's been great with Sheila's pregnancy too. She's helped her find some sort of expectant mother's yoga class here in town that she goes to," He admitted.

"I thought you said she was trouble?" Cole asked him. 

"Trouble for _you_ ," He clarified with a look. "I just feel like you should probably get settled before jumping into anything... especially with Val." Darryl knew how Cole's relationship with Phoebe went and he didn't want another repeat - especially not while he was staying in his house. 

"Fair enough," Cole agreed. "Hey, so I was reading the paper this morning and I was thinking that I should try to get some sort of temporary job so that I'm not just puttering around your house without contributing anything," Cole mentioned. He shuffled some things on the desk, moving one of the books to pull out the paper to show him what he'd circled in the classifieds.

Darryl took the paper. "You know you've got that money from your sister-in-law, right? She sent some for you to live on," He reminded him.

"I know but I don't feel right about using her money," He told him. 

"Technically it's your money," Darryl said, telling a little white lie. "From your estate." 

"Will you just look at the paper?" Cole suggested to him. 

Darryl sighed and glanced down at the listing Cole had circled. "You want to work _security_? At a _cemetery_?" He asked him, a little surprised by the choice. He had remembered that Cole and Phoebe always had some sort of thing about a mausoleum, but he couldn't really remember the details. 

Cole shrugged a little. "It's the night shift and it's winter. I doubt there's going to be much to do but sit around watching the monitors, right? The pay's not terrible, considering, and it'd give me the time to study for the bar that I need." 

"Yeah but the _cemetery_?" Darryl asked him, shaking his head. "We've had some reports of minor vandalism and littering there, especially back in October," He admitted. "There's not much to do around here so some of the teenagers have taken to using that as their hangout point."

"So I'd just have to run off some kids every once in a while," He said with a shrug. Cole didn't see how it was that big of a deal. "I don't know why, but the cemetery thing doesn't bother me." 

"Well, if you really think you're up to it, I can see about putting in a good word with Joe. I think he's the one in charge of hiring at the cemetery," He mentioned. Everyone knew everyone in Wood's Close and Darryl was no exception. 

"Thanks. I'd appreciate it," Cole said to him. "I really appreciate all that you and Sheila are doing for me," He admitted. 

"We're happy to do it," Darryl said to him. Really, the past week he'd been staying with them had been pretty pleasant, truth be told. It wasn't nearly as bad as he'd been expecting when Cole first showed up. "Have you had lunch yet?" He asked him and Cole shook his head. "C'mon. Take a study break and we'll head over to Rea's diner. And bring those documents. We'll run off some copies while we're out and get this stuff in the mail so you can be legally brought back to life," He told him. He knew that the bar exam itself was coming up and didn't want him to miss the deadlines because of some paperwork. "Maybe we'll even stop by and see Joe about that job," He offered and Cole was more than willing to go.


	11. Chapter 11

Cole's first night on the job as night watchman of the Wood's Close Cemetery was going about as well as could be expected - especially for a cold winter's night. He was bundled up pretty well against the elements and in his small office there on the grounds with the security monitors inside, he had a heater going. He was to spend most of his time in the office, watching the three monitors strategically set up at different points of entry for the cemetery, but he still had to patrol the grounds a few times on his shift just to ensure no vandals or teenagers had found some other way in. 

Really, he knew that the job was unnecessary. _Everyone_ knew that the job was unnecessary except for the a few wealthy and elderly members on the city council who insisted on it being a position when they were refused an actual officer from the police department be stationed there permanently. Darryl had warned him he was probably in for a boring cold night, but Cole was just fine with it. He could watch the monitors and get in some studying for the bar while he collected a paycheck. It wasn't a bad deal, all things considered. Still, he hadn't realized just _how_ boring sitting in a small room with security monitors could actually be. 

Around hour two, he turned off the space heater and bundled up in his coat, gloves, and scarf to venture out for his first patrol of the grounds. He made sure to bring his flashlight and to lock the monitor room behind him as he set out into the cold. His breath was visible as he walked through the cemetery grounds and the icy snow crunched beneath his boots. The moon was bright in the sky, providing him enough light to walk by without using his flashlight just yet. 

It was eerily quiet, or it would have been to anyone other than Cole Turner. For whatever reason, he felt comfortable and almost comforted when walking around the cemetery. He looked down the rows of headstones, making sure that everything was in order and that he was alone. 

For a small town, the cemetery was surprisingly vast, though Cole noted that some of the graves had been there for hundreds of years. Near the end of his walk around the grounds, he heard something from a few rows away behind one of the mausoleums. He headed over that way, figuring it was only some sort of animal, but he thought he'd err on the side of caution anyway. He turned on his flashlight and walked towards the noise. 

"Hello?" He called out, feeling a little stupid even as he did so. Who would be there? As he approached, he could have sworn he saw some sort of light emit from behind the building, but when he turned the corner, there was no one to be found. Convinced that his eyes were just playing tricks on him in the moonlight, he turned to go back to the monitor room, only to be startled by who he saw behind him. 

"Jesus, you scared the hell out of me," Cole said, still trying to get his heart rate to settle after the fright. 

Officer Valerie Pierce was standing before him all bundled up and with two cups of coffee in hand. She smiled a little, amused at frightening him. "Sorry, Darryl had mentioned tonight was your first night. Thought you might need a little pick me up," She admitted. She gave him a glance. "You want to turn that thing off?" She asked him. 

Cole was confused for a moment before realizing he was shining his flashlight towards her. "Sorry," He apologized. "I just wasn't expecting anyone out here." 

"You mean you _didn't_ think the cemetery would be a hotbed of activity in the middle of the night in the middle of winter? Honestly, I'm shocked," Valerie teased him.

Cole smiled. "Do you want to get in out of the cold for a while?" He asked her. "I was just heading back to the monitor room," He mentioned.

" _Ooooh_ where all the magic happens?" She asked him with a smirk. "I'd love to," She said, more genuinely as they began to walk in that direction. "So... have you had any excitement tonight or am I the most exciting thing you've seen?"

"I thought I saw something earlier, but it must have just been your headlights reflecting when you were pulling up," He mentioned to her. 

"Well, that's got to be disappointing," Valerie commented. 

He led her over to the little standalone building and unlocked it to let her in. 

"Nice setup," She said, looking around as they went inside. Cole went over and turned on the heater as Valerie put their coffees on the desk and shed her winter coat, draping it over the back of one of the chairs before making herself comfortable in it. "I didn't know how you took your coffee, so I just got it black, but I'm sure it's lukewarm by now," She said to him. 

Cole went over to join her, putting his own coat aside. "Thank you," Cole said to her. "I appreciate it, even if it turns out to be an iced coffee," He said. 

"And don't worry. It's not that high-test stuff from Rea's diner," She assured him.

"Good to know," Cole said with a smile before taking one of the cups and taking a sip. She was right. It was a lot better.

Valerie glanced down at the books he had open on the table. "Getting in some studying?" She asked curiously. 

"For the New York Bar Exam," He explained. "It's coming up soon and I have to pass it here if I want to be able to practice law again." 

"Again? So you're actually a lawyer? I _knew_ you were way too good looking for this graveyard shift," Valerie said to him. "What kind of law do you practice?" 

"Criminal," He said to her. "I apparently used to be a DA back in California." 

"Interesting. You know if you're looking to put down roots around here, I've heard rumors that the current DA is looking to retire soon," She mentioned. 

"I'll keep that in mind. I've just got to pass this test first before I can even think of running for something like that," He admitted. 

"I'm sure you'll do fine. It's like riding a bike, right? Even though the memories aren't there, they're still _sort of_ there," Valerie said. 

The pair continued to talk, losing track of time as they chatted and flirted and drank the coffee she'd brought. Cole had to admit, he was thankful for the company and it certainly made the time fly. 

"Damn," Valerie commented. "I should probably get going. I've got to go with Sheila to yoga in a few hours," She admitted to him, finally realizing what time it was. 

"Thank you for keeping me company on my first shift and for the coffee." 

"Anytime, Turner," She said to him with a grin as she got up and put on her coat. 

"I'll walk you to your car," Cole offered, getting up as well and putting on his own winter gear. 

"That's okay," She assured him. "I'm a big girl. I can manage with all the ghosts around here," She joked. She went towards the door. "Same time tomorrow?," She suggested before heading out before he could stop her. 

Cole was a little baffled by her quick exit, but he was intrigued all the same. Still, his first night hadn't been so bad and he was nearly finished with his shift already. He was even looking forward to his next one, especially if Valerie kept her promise.


	12. Chapter 12

Cole had been working at the cemetery for two months and so far things had been going good. His requests had been approved to get himself back into the land of the living - legally speaking - and he was finally eligible to register to take the bar exam that was rapidly approaching. He and officer Valerie Pierce had been spending more time together as well and the pair had even gone on a couple of real dates. 

Woods Close was feeling more and more like home and he had decided he wanted to find a more permanent residence there than just staying with Darryl, Sheila, and the kids. He was worried he was overstaying his welcome, especially with Sheila's pregnancy. As such, Cole found himself scouring the Wood's Close Gazette for real estate listings as he often did in the afternoon in the Morris family living room. He'd found a few promising ones and intended on asking Darryl about visiting them when he got back from picking up the kids from school.

Cole heard the front door open and the two kids run in with Darryl not far behind. 

"Guys, get to work on your homework so you can go ahead and have it done for the weekend," Darryl called after the boys who were already rushing in to sit on the couch. 

"Ugh," Mikey groaned. "Do we _have_ to?" 

"Rough day?" Cole asked, glancing over at the kids from over his newspaper.

"I've got English homework," The boy admitted and Darryl walked into the room, holding both boys book bags. 

"Mikey's class started Shakespeare this week," Darryl mentioned, having heard all about it in the car ride over. 

"The Tempest," Mikey mentioned, rolling his eyes.

"Ah. 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here'," Cole quoted and Darryl gave him a look.

"Since when do you quote Shakespeare?" He asked him.

"I guess since now?" Cole said, not really sure where that had come from. "A couple of months ago I couldn't remember my own name but apparently Act One Scene Two of The Tempest is safe," He said with a little shrug. It didn't make any more sense to him either what he could remember versus what he'd forgotten, but he'd learned to just roll with it. 

"So if you know it, do you think you could help me with my homework?" Mikey asked him hopefully.

"Sure, but maybe tomorrow?" Cole offered, hoping that would be alright with Darryl. He looked over to his friend. "I thought maybe we could check out a couple of these places. They're within my price range," He mentioned, handing over the newspaper to him. 

Darryl skimmed the listings Cole had circled. "You really think any of these places are your style?" He knew how Cole used to live and he doubted anything there in Wood's Close was ever going to live up to that modern aesthetic. 

"These days, I'm pretty sure my style is just going to be a roof over my head," Cole told him with a shrug. "I don't really know what I like." 

"It's just these places are a little... _rustic_ ," Darryl mentioned, familiar with the properties. 

"I'm guessing I wasn't really a rustic kind of guy?" Cole asked him and Darryl shook his head. 

"Not really. Then again, I do think you've probably lived in worse places than these," He mentioned, without even thinking about it. He knew that with Cole's half demon heritage that he probably spent a lot of time in some pretty unsavory places over the years.

"What do you even mean by that?" Cole asked.

"Uhhh... You didn't really talk about it a lot, but I think you might have grown up in less than stellar circumstances," Darryl said, keeping it vague. He shifted the conversation instead, not wanting Cole to ask too many questions he wasn't equipped to answer. "Is Sheila home? If she is, we can call the realtor and head out. Maybe get a look at some of these places," Darryl offered. 

"Yeah, she was reading one of those baby name books the last I saw her earlier," He mentioned. "Fair warning though -- she had a list of names going and some of them were pretty out there," He commented. 

"Oh yeah?" Darryl asked. "How bad are we talking?" 

"I think I actually saw both "Eustace" and "Doris" on there," Cole said, making a face. 

"Doris might not be _terrible_ for a girl..." Darryl said, trying to remain optimistic about his wife's choices. 

"Think about it Darryl," He suggested to him. " _Doris Morris_?" 

"That's a lot of flack coming from a man named "Coleridge"," Sheila said as she was coming into the room. 

"Busted," Both Mikey and Darryl Jr. commented to Cole simultaneously. 

"Busted is right," Sheila said with a smirk. She went over to her husband and kissed him hello. 

" _Coleridge_ and I were thinking of checking out some places for him if you don't mind us going out," Darryl said to his wife.

"So long as you pick up dinner on the way home tonight," Sheila suggested to him, knowing it would probably take them a couple hours to visit the places anyway.

"Any special requests?" Darryl asked her. 

"Pizza!" Darryl Jr. chimed in. 

"Not the pineapple kind," Mikey was quick to add as he looked up from his math homework.

Darryl looked to his wife, unsure if she'd be alright with that. With the not-just-morning sickness and the weird cravings, he didn't really know what her tastes were these days.

"Not pineapple pizza is fine," Sheila assured him. "Just get extra dipping sauces and those hot peppers on the side," She requested of him. 

"Got it. C'mon Coleridge," Darryl said to him, moving away from his wife to head back towards the door.

"There's no chance I'm living that down, am I?" Cole asked him as he got up and went to put on his coat. 

"Not a chance. I'm telling Val," Sheila called after him and he groaned a little as he followed Darryl to leave.

On the way to the properties, Darryl had called on his cell to the realtor, who was of course available to show them. The first place they visited looked pretty run down and was on the outskirts of town. Both Darryl and Cole had shot down that prospect immediately, so they'd gone on to the next one. They'd visited a townhouse unit that was available, but Darryl had insisted that wouldn't work for Cole. The walls were incredibly thin between units and even though Cole couldn't remember, Darryl didn't want there to be any excuse for Cole's temper to get out of check. The last place they visited hadn't even been listed in the paper yet. It was a small cottage about halfway between the cemetery and Darryl's place. 

"This is it," Cole said to him as they got out of the car to walk up to it. The realtor had gone ahead of them and was already waiting there.

"Really?" Darryl asked, a little surprised. "We haven't even seen the inside. Plus, this place is a little..." 

"Rustic?" Cole filled in, echoing what Darryl had said earlier.

"Very." 

"I don't know. I kind of like it. It's old. It has character," Cole mentioned. 

"If by character you mean a probably leaky roof and drafty house, then yeah. Lots of character," Darryl said to him.

"So it's a fixer upper," Cole said with a shrug. "I could use a project." 

"You're not handy," Darryl told him. 

"I'm not?" 

"I've not seen you fix anything."

"Doesn't mean I can't." 

"Doesn't mean you can either," Darryl insisted. 

The realtor was already at the front door with her clipboard in hand, looking eager to show them the place.

"Now, this house was built in the early 1900s," The realtor said to them. "It's full of character and it certainly has some charm." 

"See? Character," Cole said quietly to Darryl, who rolled his eyes. 

The realtor opened the door to the cottage and walked them inside.

"The wood floors are the original and the fireplace is as well," She pointed out as she was giving them the tour. "Through here is the kitchen and dining area along with the back door," She said, leading them around. The place was rather small, but it was on a large swath of land. "Now, if we go back through here, you'll find the laundry room. And over here's the bathroom and then upstairs is the bedroom," She said, leading them over to a wooden staircase. 

Cole and Darryl went through the place. It was pretty spartan but with some furniture, it had potential. 

"This is it," Cole repeated once they were finished with the tour. 

"You know you don't have to make this decision today. I just don't want you to get locked into a place that you might not want to stick with later," Darryl mentioned to him. 

"I know you're just looking out for me, but I'm sure. This place isn't bad. It could use some work, but it's better here on the inside than out. Plus, it's sort of secluded since it's on so much land and it's close to work and your place," He said, pointing out all the positives.

The realtor heard him and went over. "If you're interested, we can talk numbers today," She offered and Cole looked to Darryl. 

"Hey, it's your call. I know a guy in town that can do the inspection before you sign anything," Darryl mentioned. 

"Can you call him and see when he can if you've got service out here?" Cole suggested. 

"Yeah, sure. You know if you buy this place, we'll have to get you a car too," Darryl reminded him. So far he'd been borrowing the extra Morris family car, but he couldn't do that forever. 

"That's the next thing on my list," Cole told him as Darryl pulled out his phone to call up the inspector. 

By the time they'd made it back to the Morris house with a couple of pizzas, Cole was well on his way to becoming the owner of that cottage. Obviously, given his financial situation, he couldn't just buy it outright, but with the deal he was getting on it and with his newly reinstated credit, he felt pretty comfortable making the commitment to get the place. With his time spent with the Morris family, Wood's Close already felt like home and now he was just making it official.


	13. Chapter 13

"Thanks for this. I really appreciate it," Cole said to Darryl as they set down the wooden bed frame they were moving into the cottage. Cole had closed on the cottage and was the proud owner of the place. Darryl had been helping him to get the place move-in ready and that meant getting some furniture. Darryl and Sheila had some pieces they'd had in storage that they offered to Cole, who gratefully accepted just to make sure he had some of the basics as he essentially started over. Sheila had also been pretty instrumental in helping him to shop for everything else he might need.

"Yeah, don't thank me yet," Darryl said to him, taking a moment to admire what they'd done so far. "We've still  
got a long way to go," He mentioned. Even though they'd been working on the place for about a week after he'd closed on it, Darryl still didn't think it really felt like much of a home. 

"If we get the bed fully set up, I'll stay here tonight," Cole said. "See what else I can get done here overnight," He offered. It was his night off from the cemetery and he wanted to make the most of it. 

"You don't have plans with Val?" Darryl asked, surprised. The two of them had been spending an awful lot of time together as of late. 

"She said she and Sheila were meeting with Sheila's yoga group tonight," He said with a shrug and Darryl looked confused. 

"No, Sheila's at home. They have yoga in the mornings," He mentioned to him. "They had some sort of group brunch this morning after their class," He mentioned. "You're sure that's what she said?" 

"Yeah, I'm positive. I just talked to her a couple hours ago," Cole admitted. "I don't know why she'd lie about something like that." It didn't make any sense to him. 

"I'm sure it's nothing," Darryl said to him, giving him a pat on the back. "Maybe she just didn't want to get roped into moving furniture or cleaning up this place?" He suggested with a smirk and Cole smiled. 

"Yeah, probably. I wouldn't blame her," He said, shaking his head. It had been an undertaking getting this place move-in ready, but to Cole, as it started to come together it really felt like he'd accomplished something. The more he worked on it, the more he felt like it was his own and that was something his life had sorely been lacking the last few months. As grateful as he'd been to Darryl and Sheila and as welcome as they'd made him feel, he hadn't really had anything to call his own. All of that was changing now. 

"C'mon, let's get this frame up and then we'll go get the mattress," Darryl suggested, going over to the toolbox he'd brought. 

"Hey, if we don't have what we need in there, I think there might be some more tools down in the basement," Cole commented, having seen them down there when he was having the place inspected. 

"This place has a basement?" He asked, giving a glance over to him. "I guess I didn't realize that. Are we gonna have to fix it up too?" 

"That's another project for another day," Cole said to him. "It's unfinished. There's just a concrete floor, some storage, and the furnace and hot water heater down there," He mentioned. "Whoever owned this place before though left a few boxes that I got in closing. I think most of it's probably old junk, but I'm pretty sure I did see a toolbox," He said with a shrug. Cleaning it out wasn't something he was overly concerned with just yet. 

"Yeah, well, we actually might need them," Darryl said with a sigh. "I forgot this thing used those weird screws," He said with a frown. Darryl was pretty sure that's why he and Sheila had never put it together again after several moves, but they hadn't gotten rid of it because it was a nice frame. 

"I'll be back then," Cole assured him. He went downstairs to the main floor of the house and then to the other stairwell to go down to the basement. He switched on the light and carefully went down the old narrow stairs. The basement was illuminated with a single light bulb overhead. He knew he'd need to work on that some other time, but it was on the to-do list. He glanced around and went over to the old boxes in the corner of the room. He spied the metal toolbox beside it and he hauled it up the two flights of stairs back to the bedroom, not lingering in the basement long with Darryl waiting. 

"Wow, that thing needs cleaned," Darryl said, looking over at the dust covered toolbox Cole was carrying in. "If that's any indication of the state the basement's in, you're on your own," Darryl said, only half joking. 

"Thanks," Cole said dryly as he began to open the box. The metal creaked as he opened the lid and he looked confused when he saw the contents of the box. 

"What is it?" Darryl asked, only able to see the back of the toolbox from where he was. 

"They aren't tools. It's just a bunch of strange knives," Cole admitted, pulling one out of the toolbox to show him. Darryl recognized it immediately as a demonic atheme. He'd been around the Charmed ones enough to know how to spot one. Darryl got up and went over to Cole's side to have a better look. 

"Can I see that?" Darryl asked him and Cole gave a nod, handing over the wavy edged knife. It was pretty ornate, both engraved and embossed and it had a solid heft to it as well. It was too high quality to just write it off as part of a leftover Halloween costume or as a theatrical prop. Darryl turned it over in his hands, getting a good look at both sides of it. He glanced down into the toolbox, seeing that there were several more different, but still just as ornate, athames there. 

"You don't think this was some sort of murder house, do you?" Cole asked him, concerned. "I mean, I'm not well versed in real estate and property law, but I would think that would be something they'd legally have to disclose before signing." 

Darryl put the knife back in with the others and looked to Cole. "Do you mind if I take these to look into them more?" He asked him. "I've got someone who might be able to help figure out what they are and what they were used for," He mentioned, though he already had a pretty good idea. 

"Sure, be my guest," Cole insisted. He didn't want any part of those knives. 

"And maybe don't go exploring the other stuff in the basement until I've gotten an answer back on these," Darryl added. He didn't know what other sorts of demonic or magical items could be lurking down there and he didn't want Cole to accidentally cast a spell or trigger his own memories somehow. "Look, I'll just run back to the house and see if I've got a screwdriver at home that'll work for that bed frame," He mentioned. Darryl reached down and picked up the demonic toolbox. "I'll be back in a few," He promised, taking the box of athames with him. 

"Alright, I'll work on cleaning up the bathroom while you're gone," Cole said, knowing that had to be done too. 

Darryl gave a nod and he hurried down the stairs and then out to his car. He put the toolbox in the trunk and then got into the car, driving quickly to his house. He stayed parked in the driveway and pulled out his cell before dialing a familiar number. 

"Piper. It's me. We've got a big problem."


	14. Chapter 14

"Darryl?" Piper was surprised as she answered the phone to be hearing from him so soon. They'd talked a few days prior, catching up about Cole and his decision to purchase a cottage there in Wood's Close. She had to admit that she felt a little proud that he was putting down roots there and seemed to be thriving with the help of Darryl and Sheila. 

"Piper, it's me. We've got a big problem," Darryl said over the phone. 

"Oh no. What is it? Is everything okay?" She knew he wouldn't have called in the middle of the day unless it was something important and they'd already spoken recently just to catch up.

"Cole and I were working on his new place and he found a toolbox full of athames in the basement," Darryl said, cutting right to the point. He had to admit, he was a little rattled by the discovery. He had moved to Wood's Close because he was trying to get away from all of that magic nonsense and now he'd come to find that it had been there all along. 

"What? Darryl, that doesn't make any sense. Are you sure they weren't some other kind of knives?" Piper asked, hoping that there was some other logical explanation for them other than something mystical.

"I think I've been around you three long enough to know what an athame looks like, Piper," He mentioned to her with a sigh. "Things were going so good for him and now this..." 

"Well, did Cole see them? What did he say?" Piper worried if it had triggered something within him. 

"Of course he saw them. He asked if the realtor would have had to disclose any murders in the house before he closed on it," Darryl mentioned and though she couldn't see him, Piper was sure he had rolled his eyes. "I told him I'd look into them and the whole box of them are in my trunk. There are more boxes down in that basement though from the last owner of the house," He mentioned. 

"You haven't gone through them?" Piper asked him. 

"No, we've been trying to get the rest of the place ready for him to move in, but now I don't know if he should," Darryl admitted honestly. 

"Can you send them here?" Piper suggested to him. 

"You seriously want me to ship a toolbox full of demonic knives across the country?" Darryl asked her.

"Well, when you put it like _that..._ " Piper trailed. 

"Look, you know I wouldn't have called or be asking this if I didn't think it was important, but... I think maybe you might need to come check it out," He suggested to her.

"You want me to come to New York?" Piper asked him. "Darryl, maybe the demon who lived there was vanquished already and that's why the house was up for sale," She suggested. She wasn't sure if going there was such a good idea for any of them.

"Who would have vanquished the demon? Have you guys been here at some point?" He asked her. 

"We're not the only witches in the world, Darryl," She said to him. They were just the most powerful. 

"The realtor said the place hadn't even been listed yet when we saw it," Darryl mentioned to her. "So I'm guessing they were there recently," He said. Even though there had been a layer of dust on the box, it was still there. "Please, Piper?" Darryl asked her. "If there's some other demon here, we're going to need your help." 

Piper sighed. "Well... I guess it would be nice to see you and Sheila and the kids," She admitted. "I'll talk to Leo about it, but we can't tell Phoebe or Paige."

"You _still_ haven't told them Cole's alive?" Darryl asked her. 

"Hey, it's not like it's an easy subject to bring up. Besides, he's on the other side of the country," She insisted. Piper thought so long as there was distance between them and Darryl was keeping Cole out of trouble, she could keep this up. 

Darryl sighed. "Well, if there does turn out to be a demon problem around here, you may have to," He told her. 

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Piper said to him. She didn't think it would be good for any of them to get it all out in the open. "I'll see if Leo and I can get a flight out soon, okay? Maybe we'll make a weekend trip just the two of us," She said. She knew that Phoebe would jump at the chance to take the boys for a weekend and she was sure Coop would too. She didn't think it would be good to bring the boys if they thought there were demonic forces at play. 

"Alright. Thanks, Piper. Just don't wait too long," Darryl advised. The pair said their goodbyes and hung up with one another. 

Piper had just hung up the phone when Leo came in with the boys. "Hey, everything okay?" He asked his wife, seeing the look she had. He was always pretty good about knowing when something was up with her and he went over to give her a kiss. He was holding Chris in one arm and Wyatt was holding his other hand.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Piper assured him. "I'm happy all my boys are home," She said with a smile. "I did get a call from Darryl though. He thinks we need to pay them a visit." 

"To New York?" Leo asked, surprised at that. "Is something the matter with Cole?"

Little Wyatt reached over and took Piper's hand with his free one. 

"No, he's doing okay, but it's this house he bought. Darryl said they were cleaning it out and found some sort of box full of athames in the basement," She admitted. "He wants me to come and take a look." 

"Seriously? Leave it to Cole to buy a demonic house even without his memories," Leo said with a sigh. "What did you tell Darryl?" 

"I said I would talk to you about going," Piper told him. "He wants us to come sooner rather than later, but we'll have to get a flight out to wherever's closest to Wood's Close and see if Phoebe or Paige will watch the boys while we're gone and--" 

Without another word, white lights encompassed the family of four, pulling them out of the manor. Piper, Leo, and the two boys began to orb. They materialized right in Darryl's driveway.

Piper and Leo were just as shocked by their current surroundings as they were the cold chill that hit them as the wind picked up. 

"Which one of you did that?" Piper asked her boys and she realized that Wyatt was holding onto both her and Leo and Chris was in Leo's arms.

"I wanted to come too," Wyatt said innocently. 

"Did you hear that? _He wanted to come too_!" Piper said to her husband, punctuating each word as she freaked out a little. She looked around, realizing by all the snow on the ground that they certainly weren't in San Francisco anymore. She worried about the boys since none of them were dressed for that sort of weather.

Darryl was just coming out of his house, having found that screwdriver he'd originally came for. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the Halliwells in his driveway. "You know when I said to hurry, I didn't mean _right this second_ ," Darryl told them. 

"Darryl? This is your place?" Piper asked surprised that Wyatt was able to get them exactly where they needed to go. She was constantly astounded by how powerful her children were and somewhat proud.

"Whose house were you aiming for?" Darryl asked them. 

"We were just discussing the trip and Wyatt decided to help," Leo admitted sheepishly. 

"Even though he knows he's not supposed to orb unless it's an emergency," Piper added, giving their little boy a look.

Darryl realized as the shock was wearing off that they had the kids and that their clothes weren't exactly winter ready. "C'mon. Let's get those kids inside before they freeze," He suggested and the family followed him into the house.

"Your house is lovely, Darryl," Piper said to him once they were indoors. 

"Thanks," He said to her, leading them in to the living room where Sheila was. "Honey," He said to his wife. "We've got company," He admitted. 

Sheila looked up from the book she had been reading and could hardly believe it. "Oh my god. When did all of you get here?" She asked, getting up off the couch. She went over and gave Piper a little hug. 

"Just now. It was sort of an impromptu trip," Piper admitted. 

"That's putting it lightly," Leo commented and Piper nudged him with her elbow. 

"Well, it's wonderful to see all of you. And look at your boys! They're getting so big," Sheila said, hardly able to believe it. 

"And what about yours?" Piper asked her. 

"They're too big," Sheila lamented, shaking her head. She couldn't believe how fast her sons were growing up. "Last week Mikey came home from school talking about how he likes a girl at school," She admitted. 

"It hardly seems possible," Piper agreed. 

"Hey, I hate to break this up, but Cole's waiting for me back at his cottage," Darryl admitted to the group. "Leo, since you're here would you want to tag along?" He asked him hopefully. "Cole's not all that handy and the place is a real work-in-progress," He mentioned. 

Leo looked to his wife, who gave a little shrug. "Sure, I might as well help while we're here," He offered. He handed over Chris to Piper. 

"Great. Piper, I've got that stuff in my trunk you can take a look at later," Darryl suggested. 

"What stuff?" Sheila asked, giving her husband a little look. 

"It's probably nothing," Darryl tried to assure her, but his wife wasn't buying it. "Cole and I found some things in the cottage that I wanted Piper to look into," He explained. 

"You think there might be magic here?" Sheila asked, looking surprised and a little alarmed. 

"There's magic everywhere," Leo said and Piper rolled her eyes. 

"You're not helping," She chided her husband. "Sheila, I'm sure it's nothing... and if it _is_ something, we'll handle it. You have nothing to worry about," She promised her. She looked to Darryl. "Show Leo where those other boxes are there and let him have a look," She suggested to him.

"Alright," Darryl agreed, thinking that might work well. Leo was a great resource as well and would probably be able to assess how serious the situation was. "We'll be back later," He promised before he went over to the coat rack. "Here," He said, handing Leo one of his jackets, knowing it was freezing out.

The pair of them went out to the car and headed down the road to Cole's cottage.

"If you guys want to stay tonight, we'll set you up in the guest room if Cole's spending the night at his new place," Darryl explained to Leo on the way over. 

"I don't know if we'll end up staying or not," He admitted. "If it turns out to be nothing, Wyatt can orb us all back tonight," Leo mentioned. 

"And if it's something?" Darryl asked him as he pulled up to Cole's cottage. 

"We'll vanquish it," Leo assured him. He looked at the house. " _This_ is the place Cole picked?" He asked surprised. 

" _Right_?" Darryl said to him as he parked. "I couldn't believe it either." 

The pair of them got out of the car and began to walk up to the house.

"It just doesn't look like a place he'd intentionally pick out," Leo commented, taking in the whole aesthetic of the place. "It's not modern enough." 

"That's what I thought, but he really seems to love it," Darryl admitted to him. He led the way into the cottage with Leo not far behind. "Cole?" He called out to him. "Hey, I brought somebody to help," He said to him. 

"Is it a plumber?" Cole called out, coming out of the bathroom and looking a little damp from head to toe. "Because we're going to have to replace that faucet, I think," He went into the other room, finding Darryl and Leo. 

"I'm not a plumber, but I'm pretty handy," Leo said to him. He offered him his hand to shake. "Leo Wyatt," He introduced, knowing that he was essentially a stranger to Cole now thanks to his memory loss. 

"I know. You're Piper's husband," Cole said shaking his hand. He recognized him immediately from the photo album. Truth be told, he'd looked at those photos more than he'd care to admit ever since Piper had sent it a few months back, trying to piece together the life he couldn't remember. "It's nice to finally meet you. Darryl didn't mention you were in New York." 

"I didn't know," Darryl told him honestly. 

"It was more of an impromptu trip," Leo explained, keeping it vague. It's not like Cole would believe him if he told the truth now anyway. "But we figured while we were here we'd stop by to visit everyone," He mentioned. 

"So Piper's here too?" Cole asked. "If you're going to be around for a while, I'd love to thank her for the package she sent and maybe ask the two of you some questions, if you don't mind," He suggested. 

"Sure, yeah," Leo agreed. He figured he and Piper would try to answer the questions as honestly as they could given the circumstances. He remembered being in a similar position after the Elders had taken away his memory. He knew how terrifying it was not to know who you were, though Leo's own predicament only lasted a few hours thanks to Cole's intervention. He couldn't imagine living like that for as long as Cole had now. "Why don't you let me go ahead and check out that faucet first though," He suggested, figuring he'd do what he could to fix things around Cole's place while he was there. It was the least he could do. 

Cole led him towards the bathroom. "It's in here," He directed him. "I think we'll need to replace the fixture. It just sort of blew up on me when I turned it on and I had to find the shutoff valve," He admitted. Cole had already cleaned up the water that had spurted out of the faucet, though he'd taken the brunt of the water when it first happened anyway. 

Leo looked over the mess. "It shouldn't be a problem to replace. Do you guys have a hardware store around here?" He asked him as he looked underneath the sink to assess the situation there. 

"Yeah, a little further in town," Cole told him. 

"Got a pen and paper?" He asked him and Cole went to go get him some. He quickly returned and Leo began to jot down all the things he thought they would need to fix the sink. 

Darryl walked over to the pair. "Cole, why don't you go get everything from that list and Leo and I can keep working here," He suggested to him. 

"Are you sure?" Cole asked, feeling a little guilty for leaving them there to do his work while he went to get supplies. 

"No offense, but Leo's way better at this than you," Darryl said with a smile. "We'll get the bed frame put together before you even get back," He promised him. "And I'll see if Leo will check out the rest of the place to make sure there's no other major projects to take care of before he heads back to San Francisco," He mentioned. 

"I'd be happy to. It's no big deal, really," Leo assured, knowing what Darryl was doing. With Cole gone, he could check out the stuff still in the basement and the rest of the property. 

"Alright," Cole agreed. "I'll take my car if you're not blocking me in," He said, grabbing the list. In addition to the cottage, he'd also very recently purchased a used car from someone Darryl knew in town - a necessity with his new place.

"I made sure I'm not," Darryl assured him. He waited until Cole had grabbed his coat and was out the door before he turned to Leo. "Let's go," He suggested, leading the way towards the basement stairs.

"I can't believe that's actually Cole," He said to him as he followed closely behind. Sure, he looked like the same man Leo had known, but there was something else there too. He seemed more at ease than he ever had been in the years Leo had known him. 

"That's Cole," Darryl told him as he turned on the basement light and began down the stairs. "He's really settled in here," He mentioned as he reached the bottom and Leo started down as well. Darryl led the way over to the boxes and opened the one on top. "This doesn't look good," He mentioned, pulling out a map that was on top. 

The map was an old one of Wood's Close and drawn on it was a pentagram. Each one of the points on the pentagram on the map corresponded to one of the elements. 

"What's there in the middle?" Leo asked, pointing to the center of the pentagram. 

"This place," Darryl told him with a look. "Why? What does this mean?" 

"It means Cole just became the proud owner of his very own Nexus," Leo said, glancing down to the basement floor. "Let's get this stuff out to your car before he comes back. Piper and I will need to go through it more later, but I think we're gonna have to take you up on that guest room," He mentioned. There was no way they could leave a Nexus there with Cole. It was going to be a long night.


	15. Chapter 15

Piper and Sheila had been catching up while Sheila had insisted on the pair of them getting things ready in case they needed to spend the night. Really, it hadn't been much work - Cole had already inadvertently helped earlier by stripping the bed and putting on fresh sheets, since he had planned on staying at his new place anyway. Mostly, Sheila wanted to make sure they had a place to make the boys comfortable. Currently, they were playing with Mikey and Darryl Jr. in the latter's room. 

"Sheila, it's great. It's more than great," Piper promised as she was blowing up an air mattress with a pump. They'd gotten it from the hall closet and taken it to the living room so that Piper could inflate it while Sheila got off her feet for a while. "They're four and five. You remember when your boys were that age? This is probably going to be the highlight of their week," She mentioned with a smile. Wyatt and Chris were pretty easy to keep entertained and Wyatt had obviously wanted to be there for an adventure. "Thank you for doing this... and for taking in Cole before," She mentioned. She mostly talked to Darryl these days and hadn't gotten the chance to properly thank Sheila for all that they'd done.

"You know, it really wasn't that bad. He's a pretty good guy - at least he is now," Sheila admitted with a shrug. "The boys have really taken to having him around. He's been helping Mikey with his homework." 

" _Really_?" Piper was a little shocked about that. She knew that when he was the Source, he had seemed pretty eager to have a child with Phoebe, but she didn't know if he'd actually have the patience to deal with anyone else's children.

"Oh yeah," Sheila said earnestly. "Mikey's class is doing a Shakespeare unit right now and Cole's been really great helping him with it," She admitted. "The boys have been really excited to get him caught up with sports and tv shows too," She admitted, shaking her head. "He's pretty good at humoring them when they sit him down and make him watch cartoons." 

"That's really good to hear," Piper said to her. She was happily surprised that Cole had fit in so well with Darryl's family. "He--" She paused when she heard the doorbell ring. She looked to Sheila, who was already trying to get up off the couch. "I'll get it," Piper assured her. She remembered that feeling well and didn't want Sheila to get up if she didn't need to.

"Thank you," Sheila said to her. "I'm not really expecting anyone. It's probably just someone selling things for a fund-raiser. I think the high school band kids are selling chocolate this time of year." 

Piper got up and went into the entryway, opening the door. She was greeted by a beautiful young woman clad in a Wood's Close police winter coat. 

"Hi. I don't think we've met. I'm Valerie Pierce. Is Sheila home?" The young woman introduced, offering her hand to shake. 

"Valerie Pierce? The one Cole's been seeing?" Piper asked as she shook her hand.

"I see my reputation precedes me?" Valerie asked her with a smile. "And you are?" 

"OH! I'm sorry. I'm Piper. Piper Halliwell. Cole's ex-sister-in-law," She introduced herself. She hoped that it wasn't coming as a shock to her that Cole had previously been married. Surely he'd told her what little he knew about that if they were starting to get serious. 

"Right! You're the one that sent him the care package," She mentioned. "Cole didn't say you were coming to visit him." 

"He didn't know, actually," Piper admitted. "It was sort of a surprise trip," She mentioned. 

"Oh... Well that's great," Valerie said to her. "Did his ex come too?" She asked, seeming a little unsure about even asking that. Piper figured maybe she felt a little threatened. 

"No. It's just me and my husband Leo and our kids this trip," Piper assured her. 

"That's good. I mean, I'm sorry," Valerie said, a little embarrassed. "I didn't mean it like that," She said, shaking her head. "Anyway, I uh... I should be going." 

"Oh, you didn't want to come in and talk to Sheila?" Piper asked her. 

"No, I've gotta go. But if you could give this to her, that'd be great," Val said, pulling out a small bottle from the bag slung over her shoulder. "It's to help her with her morning sickness. We talked about it at brunch earlier," She mentioned, handing it over to Piper. "It was nice to meet you," She said quickly before heading back to her car. 

Piper closed the door and went back into the living room. 

"That was Valerie Pierce," Piper said to Sheila, taking the bottle over to her. 

"So I could hear," Sheila admitted. The living room really wasn't far from the entryway and without the tv on, their voices carried.

"You don't think I freaked her out by telling her how I knew Cole, do you? She left in a hurry," Piper said to her as she went back to finish inflating the air mattress. 

"Nah. She probably wasn't going to stick around long anyway. I think this morning she said something about covering someone's shift at the station tonight," She mentioned, not knowing she'd given Cole a different excuse.

"So what exactly _is_ that stuff?" She asked, indicating the bottle. 

"Oh, it's this home remedy that she's been making me for the morning sickness. It's a concentrate. It's pretty fantastic, actually," Sheila admitted. "The kids keep telling me how gross it looks though." 

"I can't say that I blame them," Piper admitted, stealing another glance at the glass bottle. The liquid inside looked pretty thick and green. "What's in it?" 

"Honestly? I have no idea, but it works. Since I've been mixing a glass of it every morning, I've not been sick," Sheila said with a little shrug as she put her hand on her pregnant belly. 

"Wow. Must be some drink," Piper mentioned as she finished pumping up the air mattress. "I think this is ready," She said. "I'll take it upstairs and just stand it up in the guest room until we know if we'll need it or not," She suggested. Sheila had already shown her where the room was earlier. 

"Alright. I think I'll call and see how the guys are doing," Sheila suggested. "And see when they're coming back here for dinner." 

"I can cook," Piper offered as she stood up and got the air mattress ready to move it.

"An authentic Piper Halliwell meal?" Sheila asked her. "It's been a while," She mentioned and Piper laughed a little. 

"It's the least I can do for imposing like this," Piper said to her. "I'll get this upstairs, check on the boys, and be right back," She assured her. She took the air mattress and carried it up to the guest room to get it out of the way. She peeked in on the boys while she was there and saw that all four were playing happily. Mikey and Darryl Jr. were happy to share their toys with Wyatt and Chris and were both patient with the slightly younger boys. Piper smiled and let the boys be as she went back downstairs. She went back into the living room and saw that Sheila was on the phone. 

"Piper's going to cook dinner," Sheila was in the middle of saying. "So let me know when you guys finish up. If that place isn't ready yet, tell Cole he's more than welcome to stay here again. We've got another air mattress we could set up in the middle of the nursery or there's always the couch," She mentioned to her husband. 

"Leo's just about done fixing the sink now and Cole and I are working on some other things here. I'll let him know though," Darryl told her.

"Did you find out any more about whatever it was you found earlier?" Sheila asked him. 

"I'll fill you in later," Darryl promised her, not wanting to say too much about that with Cole around. 

"Tell them if they're getting hungry, I can start dinner now and we can call them when it's ready," Piper suggested to Sheila.

"Honey, Piper said if you guys are hungry, she'll go ahead and start on dinner and then we can just call you to come home," She said to him. 

"That'd be great. We've still got a lot of work to do here," Darryl said to her. He still wasn't so sure that Cole should be staying in the house after Leo had explained about the Nexus, but that was something for Leo and Piper to discuss later. 

"Alright. Love you," Sheila told him. 

"Love you too," Darryl told her. The pair said their goodbyes and hung up. 

Sheila looked to Piper. "I can help you in the kitchen with dinner if you want," She offered. 

"You just sit and stay comfortable," Piper told her. "I'll take care of everything," She assured her. If anyone could make their way around any kitchen, it was Piper. 

Within an hour, there was a heavenly aroma wafting from the kitchen throughout the rest of the house. Sheila had called the guys and got them to come back. By the time Piper had rounded up the kids and got them washed up and their food plated, Darryl, Leo, and Cole had done much the same by getting cleaned up. 

"It's nice to finally meet you," Cole said to Piper after dinner. Sheila was with the boys and Leo and Darryl were cleaning up, giving the two of them a chance to talk. "I'm glad that I finally have the opportunity to thank you in person. If you hadn't been able to send all those documents, I really don't know what I'd be doing," He admitted. 

"I was happy to help," Piper told him. She had to admit, it felt really strange getting along with Cole again. Even in the void between life and death when he was helping her, the two of them had shared at least a little mutual disdain for one another. "It's just really nice to see how well you're doing here. I think in some way, all of this has done you some good. It seems like life here is agreeing with you," She mentioned. 

"Wood's Close does feel like home already," Cole said. "I'm going to take the bar exam in a couple weeks - get my license to practice law again," He admitted. 

"That's great. Do you know what type of law you want to practice here?" Piper asked him.

"Honestly, I've not really thought that far ahead, but Val suggested that there might be a vacancy in the D.A.'s office soon. She thinks I'd have a pretty good chance." 

"Val - your girlfriend, right?" Piper asked him. "She stopped by earlier. She seems nice," She admitted. 

"She stopped by? She said she was busy tonight," He said. 

"Well, she just stayed for a minute. Sheila said she probably had to cover someone's shift tonight." 

"She told me her yoga group was meeting," He admitted with a frown. 

“Maybe she just got mixed up,” She said to him. “She seemed pretty nice.”

Cole smiled at that. “She is. She's been really fantastic.” From the look on his face and the tone of his voice, Piper could tell he was totally enamored with her. 

“That's wonderful. I'm really happy for you,” Piper told him. It was great to see him doing so well. 

“Thanks… but I was really hoping we could talk,” He admitted to her. “Darryl and Sheila have been great about answering some of my questions, but maybe you and your husband might be able to shed some more light on what my life was like before all this. Darryl tends to change the subject whenever I bring it up, but from what he _has_ said, it's seemed pretty bleak.” Cole had been a little nervous to bring it up but he felt like he needed to know.

“It wasn't all bad,” Piper assured him. “You and Phoebe were in love once. You were both very happy together, but things just didn't work out,” She said, putting it mildly for his sake. It truly seemed that he had changed and she didn't want to risk that.

“So Darryl's said,” Cole told her. “I wish I could meet her. I mean, I've looked at those pictures you sent me and in all of them, we looked so happy but then Darryl says my disappearance was labeled a probable suicide and I just can't wrap my head around that. Was I really that miserable that everyone thought I tried to kill myself?” 

Piper thought back to the when Cole had started to unravel. After a failed suicide attempt using the vanquishing potions they'd made, she and Paige had walked in on Cole trying every which way to kill himself. "Yes," She finally told him. "It wouldn't have been the first time you'd tried, actually," She said. "But you've got a second chance now - a fresh start. Things seem like they're going really well for you here. Maybe... Maybe the past should be left in the past." 

"It's just... You have no idea what it's like," Cole told her. "I have no idea who I was. I mean, I look at those pictures and it's like I'm looking at a stranger's life," He admitted. He'd looked at those photos more often than he'd like to admit. 

"You can't talk to Phoebe," She told him flatly. "It was hard for both of you and even if you don't remember your life together - she does," She told him, shaking her head. "She's finally moved on. She's re-married now and I don't think it would be good for either of you to re-hash the past - especially not while you're doing so well here." 

"Does she know?" He asked her. "About me? That I'm alive?" 

"No. I haven't told her and for both of your sakes, I think it's best it stays that way," Piper told him. "I'm sorry. I know that's probably not the answer you were hoping for, but I have to look out for my sister first... and you by extension. Trust me when I tell you that very little good would come from you remembering your life before," She told him. 

Cole really didn't know what to say to that and he certainly didn't have the chance to come up with anything as Leo walked over to them.

"Cole, would you excuse me? I need to borrow my wife for a moment," Leo said to him. He gently guided Piper away from him. "We need to talk," He said to his wife urgently. He'd put it off long enough, never having a chance to get her alone since they'd been back. 

"Leo, what is it? Cole and I were talking and--"

"It's a Nexus," He told her urgently. 

" _What_?" Piper asked him.

"Cole's new house has a Nexus in the basement," He told her again. "I don't think it's as powerful as the one under the manor was, but we found a map in the box of things the previous owner left and the points of the pentagram line up on all of the elements with Cole's cottage in the middle," He admitted. 

"Oh that's just _great_ ," Piper said sarcastically. "What are we supposed to do now? If it's a nexus, we'll need the power of three to get rid of it and I just got finished telling Cole why he can't ever talk to Phoebe again." 

"Well, we're going to have to figure out something. I don't like the idea of leaving him with any sort of power source like that -- even if he is human now," Leo told her. 

Piper sighed heavily. "I know," She said. She stole a glance over to Cole, who was now talking with Darryl. "We'll stay here tonight and deal with everything tomorrow. I can take Wyatt and see if he'll orb us back home to get an overnight bag," She suggested.

"What about Cole? I think he still intends to spend the night in his new place," Leo said to her. 

"He doesn't remember anything. So long as you and Darryl have gotten all of the other demonic stuff out of the house, I don't think a Nexus is going to make much of a difference for one night. He doesn't have any powers now that can be affected," She reminded him. 

"And what about if the previous owner comes back? Shouldn't we be worried about what they might do to Cole?" Leo asked her. 

"Please. It's _Cole_ ," She reminded him. "I'm pretty sure he has nine lives. We certainly were never able to vanquish him for very long," She reminded her husband. "If he has any trouble, he'll call Darryl and I'll be here to go blow up whatever demon shows up." 

Leo still wasn't entirely sure of his wife's plan, but he gave a nod, trusting her judgment. "Alright," He agreed. "If you're planning on going home, you'd better get Wyatt to do it soon. It's almost his bedtime," He reminded her. 

"Right," She agreed. "We will be back soon," She said to him before giving him a peck on the lips. "Keep everyone busy while I'm gone?" She suggested before going upstairs to get Wyatt. She went into the room where the boys were playing and took Wyatt aside and into the guest bedroom. "Wyatt honey, you and I need to orb home to get your pajamas and some things so that we can stay the night," She explained to her little boy. Without another word, he took her hand and they dissolved into bright lights, ending up back in the foyer of the manor. 

"There you are!" 

Piper was startled and turned around, just in time to see Phoebe and Paige standing right behind them. 

"No one was answering the house phone or your cell. We've been trying for hours. We were worried sick," Paige admitted. 

"Paige orbed us in," Phoebe added. "Where have you been? Where are Leo and Chris?" 

Piper sighed. She knew things had just gotten a lot more complicated.


	16. Chapter 16

"Leo and I decided to take the kids on a little trip," Piper explained as she was leading little Wyatt upstairs with her sisters following closely behind. She was still absolutely winging it, having not expected to see them so soon after orbing in. She was still determined to get what she came there to get and to return just as swiftly.

"A trip?" Paige asked, confused. "And you didn't tell us?" 

"Well, it wasn't really something we planned. We just were talking about it and then Wyatt just sort of orbed us all there," Piper said and she was thankful that she wasn't technically lying to them, at least not yet. "Wyatt orbed me back so that we could grab a few things to stay a day or two. I swear I was going to call you and tell you we went out of town."

"Where did you guys go? Where are you staying?" Phoebe asked her and Piper knew that was the million dollar question. She went towards the bedroom to pack a bag for her and Leo first. 

"We're staying with Darryl in New York," She said to them, knowing there was no use in hiding that from them either. The more truthful she could be, the better, she supposed. 

"Aww! You're staying with Darryl and Sheila?" Phoebe whined a little. 

"Yes," Piper said, moving to the closet to get an overnight bag to pack for herself and Leo. She pulled it down and then walked it over to the bed to start packing it. “And they've only got one guest room,” She said, figuring she'd try to nip that line of thinking in the bud before it even got started. She knew Phoebe would want to go too.

“Well, maybe Coop and I will have to plan a visit to see them sometime soon,” She suggested. 

“No!” Piper was far too quick to insist and she saw the looks both of her sisters were giving her. 

“What is with you?” Paige asked, making a face. 

“Nothing. I just think that you know… it's very very cold there and most of Phoebe's wardrobe consists of crop tops, so that might not be the best idea,” She said only half jokingly as she began to put some things into her bag.

"Very funny," Phoebe said dryly, rolling her eyes.

"I thought it was," Piper smirked. She grabbed a few more things of hers and Leo's and stuffed them in the bag, including the warmest coats they owned. She went around, gathering what they would need and then zipped the bag up before heading to the boys' room get some things for the for them in another small bag. 

"So you're not going to tell me why you don't think I should go visit?" Phoebe asked as she and Paige followed her around the house. Little Wyatt was holding Paige's hand as they went. 

"Sheila's pregnant. _Really_ pregnant and you know how they are about magical stuff and Coop's a Cupid," She said to her sister. 

"You know, I'm hearing a _whole_ lot of excuses and none of them are really convincing. What aren't you telling us?" Phoebe asked her, narrowing her eyes at her older sister. 

Piper sighed. "There might be _something_ there. Something demonic," She admitted. "There's a Nexus in Darryl's town and he found some athames near it. I'm going to check the book before Wyatt and I go back. It's probably nothing--"

"Probably nothing? Piper, you just said there was a _Nexus_!" Paige insisted. "You're going to need the power of three to get rid of it." 

"Maybe not. There's not exactly a lot of demonic forces out there now that we've got to worry about," She reminded them. Sure, the demonic forces were trying to strengthen their ranks, but it would be years before they were strong enough again to pose any real threat. 

"Yeah, but a Nexus could get them the foothold they need to get stronger faster," Paige reasoned as Piper was moving around the room to grab everything from clothes to a few toys to stuff in the bag. 

"Yeah, I don't know. I'm with Paige on this one. I think if there's something we can do preemptively so it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass later, we should do it," Phoebe agreed. 

"Just... Just give us a few days to figure it out," Piper suggested to her sisters. "I don't think Darryl and Sheila need the extra stress right now. For all we know, those athames he found could be ancient and the demon they belonged to could be long since vanquished." Piper finished packing the bag for the boys and zipped it up. 

"At least check the book before you go back," Phoebe suggested to her, wanting to err on the side of caution. She was worried that Piper wasn't taking this as seriously as she should have been. "Maybe copy down some spells or take some potions just in case." 

"I will if it'll make you feel better, but I honestly think we'll be fine," Piper assured them. She took both bags and headed out in the hall towards the stairs leading to the attic. 

"It's been a while since we've had to do this," Paige commented as she followed Piper along with Phoebe and little Wyatt. 

They made it to the attic and Piper went over to the book, opening it and flipping through the large tome to find the entry about the Nexus. She figured most of what was written would still apply to the Nexus underneath Cole's cottage. She reached for a spare notebook and pen they kept around and she jotted down some notes from that entry before flipping to another section while Paige and Phoebe were busy keeping an eye on Wyatt around all of the magical things they had stashed up there. He was old enough now to know to stay out of things, but they all knew to play it safe rather than sorry. Piper wrote down the spell, but knew she'd have to tweak it should the need arise. She hoped, however, that it wouldn't come to that. She closed the book and ripped the paper from the notebook before folding it and stuffing it in the pocket of her jeans.

"I think we're ready to go," Piper declared, looking over to her family.

"Are you sure you don't need us to come?" Paige asked her one more time.

"I'm positive. If I need you, I'll call. I know you're both just an orb away," Piper told them, reaching out for Wyatt's hand as she gathered the bags in the other. "Wyatt, honey, orb us back to Darryl's," She instructed her little boy and the two of them disappeared from the attic in a swell of lights. 

Phoebe frowned. "Was it just me or was she kind of eager to get out of here?" She asked her sister. 

"No, she didn't even hug us goodbye," Paige commented.

"I just hope she's okay. I just get the feeling that there's more that she's not telling us," She mentioned. 

"Is that sisterly intuition or the empath in you talking?" Paige asked. 

"A little bit of both," Phoebe admitted. She still didn't have a good feeling about things, but she trusted that Piper would ask for help before she got in over her head.


	17. Chapter 17

The rest of the night back in Wood's Close had gone on with little fanfare after Piper had returned and a few hours later, Cole had found himself back at his new cottage, having been determined to spend his first night there. He had the essentials already there and thanks to Darryl and Leo's help, the bed was assembled and the plumbing was fixed. He worked on a few more little projects when he got back, but decided he needed to get some rest since Leo had promised to visit the next day to continue to help him around the place before Cole's graveyard shift. 

In the middle of the night, Cole awoke to the sound of a loud clanging and he sat up in bed, heart pounding. "What the hell?" He asked softly. He got up and went downstairs, trying to be quiet as he did so. The noise was coming from the basement, he surmised upon hearing it again. Adrenaline raced through his veins and against his better judgement, he went towards the basement stairs. He didn't have anything in the way of a weapon and he hadn't even thought to grab one of the various tools he had left laying around from the renovations they were doing. He began down the old stairs which began to creak a little as he stepped down them. He turned on the light and when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked around the basement. There was no one there, but there was a shovel in the middle of the floor. He went over and picked it up, trying to figure out where it would have come from that it would have made such a racket. There was no place it could have been hanging on the walls that it might have fallen from and there had been nothing it could have been propped against. He didn't even remember seeing a shovel when he'd been down there before, but then again, he hadn't been looking for one either. Cole took it over and laid it flat on the floor against the wall. He gave one last glance around the basement before heading back upstairs. He thought briefly about calling Darryl, but he knew there wasn't much to tell and he didn't want to risk waking up Sheila or any of the kids. That would have to wait until morning. 

Now fully awake, Cole decided he'd work on some more things around the cottage. He didn't think he'd be able to get much sleep anyway. He worked through the night on the main floor of the place. Throughout the night, he didn't hear another peep from the basement which he was thankful for, but he was still completely baffled as to what had caused the commotion in the first place. 

By the time the sun was rising, Cole had already thoroughly cleaned the place from top to bottom and it was more than ready for the furniture he still needed to get. He had gotten a shower already and then went to set up the coffee maker, knowing he'd need it to get through the day. He was already on his second cup when there was a knock on his door. He went over to answer it and was surprised to see Leo there. 

"I hope you don't mind I'm here so early," Leo said apologetically. "Darryl dropped me off on his way to the station." He was carrying a tupperware container. "Piper's already been up and baking. I hope you still like muffins," He said to him. 

"Thanks," Cole said with a smile, moving aside to let him in. "I haven't had breakfast yet, so that's great," He admitted. 

"Whoa... you've been busy," Leo commented as he walked in. "How'd you get all of this done?" 

"I didn't really get much sleep," Cole admitted to him.

"Excited about your new place?" Leo asked. 

"Not exactly. Something fell down in the basement and woke me up. I couldn't really get back to sleep after that," Cole admitted, though he was a little embarrassed about it. 

That certainly caught Leo's attention. "What was it? Did you go check it out? You should have called," He told him. 

"It was just a shovel," He said with a little shrug. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Darryl and I were down there yesterday. There wasn't any shovel," Leo told him. 

"Why were you two down there?" Cole asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. 

"Darryl wanted me to take a look at your furnace," Leo quickly covered. 

"Oh... right. Thanks," Cole said, accepting that pretty quickly. "Everything okay with it?" He asked him. 

"It could probably use a new filter, but that's just regular maintenance," Leo said with a shrug. In all honesty, he hadn't actually gotten around to checking the furnace, but he would later. Even without looking at it, he knew that from the state the rest of the place had been in that it was a pretty safe bet that the furnace filter hadn't been changed recently. 

"We'll add it to the list," Cole said before taking a sip of his coffee. 

"You have a list?" Leo asked him and Cole gave him another shrug. 

"Shouldn't I?"

"No, that's good," Leo encouraged. "I uh... I should probably take another look at that furnace and see what size filter it takes," Leo said to him. He wanted to check out the basement after what Cole had mentioned before. 

"Have at it," Cole said, motioning towards the basement stairs. "I'm going to finish my coffee and try one of your wife's muffins and then I'll get to work again," He said to him. 

"Sounds good," Leo said, thankful that he didn't want to tag along to the basement. The previous night after Cole had gone and the kids were asleep, he and Piper had gone through the athemes and the other demonic leftovers they'd found in Cole's basement. The other boxes had been a bit of a demonic grab bag and after what Cole had said about the shovel, he wanted to check things out for himself. 

Leo headed downstairs and was sure to turn on the light as he looked around. He glanced over, seeing the shovel laying down against the wall. There didn't seem to be anything inherently demonic about it, but he did notice a bit of damage in the middle of the basement floor. There was a crack in the cement and a bit of residue where it was likely being chipped away. He realized Cole probably hadn't noticed it since he had just been woken up, but Leo spotted it right away. Someone had been actively trying to access the Nexus since yesterday, which meant Cole hadn't been alone on his first night in the cottage. He already knew Piper wouldn't be happy about having to stay several more days in order to deal with it or with the possibility that she'd need to call in her sisters to help. He thought it best to make sure there was nothing else he might have missed. He looked around the basement a bit more, but came up empty. He knew that Cole would start to get suspicious if he didn't return upstairs soon, so he went over to the furnace to do the job he'd said he'd do anyway. He was thankful at least that there were some new furnace filters already there and that it wouldn't warrant another trip to the hardware store. He quickly changed it out and took the old one to dispose of it. 

By the time Leo had returned upstairs, Cole was finishing up his coffee and muffin. He glanced over at Leo as he entered. 

"You have to thank Piper for me. I think that was the best muffin I've ever had... or at least that I can remember," Cole admitted. It was certainly better than the ones served at Rea's Diner. 

Leo had to smile at that as he put the old furnace filter into a fresh garbage bag. "I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that," He mentioned. "Wait until you try her homemade croissants again."

"She makes _croissants_? No wonder you married her," Cole joked. He got up and put his coffee cup in the sink. "So, today, I think we really need to--" He paused when he heard a knock at the door. 

"Expecting someone else?" Leo asked him.

"Not that I know of," Cole admitted. He went into the other room and over to the door and opened it. He was surprised to see Valerie standing there on his doorstep. 

"I hope you don't mind me just dropping by like this," She said apologetically as Cole moved aside to let her in. 

"No, no. Absolutely not. It's great to see you," He assured her. Valerie put her arms around him and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. 

Leo walked into the room just as the pair were pulling away from one another. "I hope I'm not interrupting," He said apologetically. 

"I didn't know you had company," Val mentioned to Cole, seeming a little embarrassed by the show the two had put on. 

"Yeah, this is, uh, Leo," He said, still a little dazed from the kiss. "He's--"

"Your ex-brother-in-law, right?" Val asked. She went over and shook Leo's hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Val," She introduced. 

"It's nice to meet you too. I've heard nothing but good things," Leo assured her.

"I certainly hope so. I met your wife yesterday," Valerie admitted to him. "Are the two of you sticking around town for a while?" She asked him. 

"Yeah, for a few days at least," Leo said with a smile. "Maybe some night we can go on a double date," He offered. 

"Maybe," Valerie said, but she didn't sound overly enthused about the idea. "Cole works nights at the cemetery. Speaking of, I'm surprised you're up this early considering you work tonight," She mentioned to Cole. 

"I've still got a lot to do around here and I've got Leo here to help me," He admitted. He didn't mention his rough first night in the house. 

"Then I had best let you two get to it," Valerie told him. "I just wanted to see you before I went to work," She said before stealing another kiss. "How about I drop by the cemetery tonight and you can catch me up on everything you two got done today?" She suggested. "I'll bring the coffee." 

"Sounds like a date," Cole said with a smile.

"You fellas don't work too hard today," She warned them both. Cole walked her to the door and they shared one last peck of a kiss before she went on her way. 

"You two seem pretty serious," Leo commented to Cole, who gave a little shrug. 

"Yeah... we've been seeing each other for a while now. Val's great," He said, unable to keep the smile off his face. 

"I'm glad. I can tell that she makes you happy," He told him. "You deserve that." It was a little strange to see Cole so infatuated with someone other than Phoebe, but Leo was thankful he had finally been able to move on - even if it was without his memories. 

The pair worked throughout the day on various projects around the place - only taking breaks when Piper called them back to the Morris household for meals. That evening after they were finished for the day and Cole had gone back to get ready for work, Leo had finally had the opportunity to fill Piper in on what Cole's first night had entailed and about the damage to the basement floor. 

“Someone was in the house with him?” Piper asked alarmed. 

“He didn't find anyone, but that's what it seems like to me,” Leo admitted with a sigh. 

“Well what are we going to do? We can't just let Cole stay in a house with a demon digging up the basement,” Piper said, already weighing their options. Truth be told, she didn't really like any of them, but they were going to have to do something. 

“We're going to have to find out who this demon is and vanquish it,” Leo told her. 

“I'm going to have to get Wyatt to orb me back to the manor again and get the scrying crystal,” Piper realized. It had been a while since she'd had to scry for evil, but she thought that was their best course of action. “Can you ask Darryl or Sheila to find us a map of the town?” She suggested. 

“Yeah, but what are we going to do once we actually find the demon?” Leo asked her. “We might need the power of three to vanquish it,” Leo reminded his wife.

“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Piper told him. “Right now, I'm more concerned with having to use our son as a cross-country taxi.”

“It's not like it's for personal gain and Wyatt likes to orb and practice his powers,” Leo said, not wanting her to be too hard on herself.

“I know. It still doesn't mean I have to be happy about it,” She admitted. She got up and went to get Wyatt, determined to make this trip as quick as it could possibly be. By the time Leo had gotten Darryl to track down a map, Piper was back and Wyatt was playing again with the other kids before bedtime. They took the time getting the boys ready for bed and tucked in before setting to work on what they needed to do.

“Is there anything else you two need to do this?” Darryl asked, looking between the pair. 

“No, I think we've got everything. You brought two scrying crystals?” Leo asked his wife, a little surprised. 

“I wasn't sure how many maps we had. I thought maybe you could help,” Piper said with a smile to her husband, handing one of the crystals to him. 

“I'm mortal now. I don't know if it'll work,” Leo reminded her. 

“Grab an atheme and give it a go with the Nexus map,” She said, patting his arm. Since Leo was a former Elder, she figured there was a good chance that he'd still be able to scry. She sprawled out the map Darryl had gotten for them on one side of the dining room table and Leo did much the same on the other side of the table with the map they'd found in the demonic items from Cole's basement. They each grabbed an atheme from the box of them and set to work scrying on each of their maps. Their crystals dropped at nearly the same time, but each at distinctly different points on the map. 

“Oh no…” Piper said, looking at the maps. One of the points was in the middle of the town. 

“Guys, we've got to get to Cole,” Darryl said to them, looking at the other map. The other crystal had landed on the cemetery Cole was working in. “What are we going to tell him?” 

“As little as we have to,” Piper said, already moving to get her coat. 

“I'll drive,” Darryl offered as he and Leo followed behind her. Despite the fact that there were at least two demons in town, Cole's safety was their first priority.


	18. Chapter 18

By the time Cole had actually gotten to work, he was completely exhausted. He'd been running on a couple of hours of sleep and though he and Leo had accomplished a lot throughout the day at the cottage, just knowing all there was that was still left to be finished wore him out. Thinking about the night ahead wasn't much better in terms of stimulation and even the prospect of a visit from Val wasn't enough to keep him from beginning to doze off while watching the monitors. He felt the tiredness overcome him and he slumped against the desk, falling asleep despite his best effort not to. 

Cole found himself in a dark underground structure - possibly a cave. He wasn't quite sure as he looked around, but somehow it felt familiar... but not quite like home either. There was a sense of urgency he could feel around him and there was a hot thickness to the air that made it hard to breathe or perhaps it was just his nerves. Something felt _off_ about the place. The only thing providing any illumination were candles that were in a circle surrounding him. As he looked down at them, he realized he was in some sort of strange dark cloak.

"What the hell?" Cole muttered quietly to himself, trying to make sense of it all. He tried to move outside of the circle, but some unseen force was keeping him firmly in place in the center. He reached his arm out and a flame on the nearest candle flew up and burned his palm. He quickly pulled his arm back, realizing that there was no escape. He could hear a sort of chanting happening as several cloaked figures entered the room and surrounded him, though he couldn't see any of their faces, nor could he really make out what any of them were saying. 

"What is this?" Cole demanded and just as he did a searing pain shot through him. He fell to his knees in the circle and let out a scream, but the figures around him were unfazed and began their chant louder. The flames on the surrounding candles rose higher and higher as Cole clutched at his chest, breathing heavily. He felt like something within him was changing. It felt like some part of him was being ripped open to allow a heavy black hole to settle in his chest. He doubled over in pain with his hands now trying to grip the dirt floor. That was when he finally noticed it. His hands were flickering from their usual hue to an unnaturally bright red. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he was terrified. Suddenly the chanting stopped as he heard some sort of clanging and different voices in the distance. The cloaked figures surrounding him disappeared before his eyes and the flames on the surrounding candles settled down. His skin returned to it's natural color and he could feel the the darkness within slowly ebbing away. 

"Cole? _Cole?_ "

He could make out the words from the nearby voice, but he couldn't see the person it belonged to. He felt a firm pressure on his shoulder.

"Cole, wake up," The voice urged again and Cole jolted awake, looking around wildly. He was back in the monitor room at the cemetery. Piper still had her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" She asked him. "You were screaming."

Cole was a little bewildered as he tried to make sense of what happened and calm down. He still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling he had. "I just... I must have been having a nightmare," He said, thinking that was the only sound explanation. "What are you doing here?" He asked her. 

Piper hadn't really thought that far ahead and she was thankful that Leo and Darryl had hung back to search the grounds. The last thing they needed was three people scrambling for a cover story. She had rushed inside when she heard Cole let out a scream, ready to freeze or blow up whatever threat was around him, but he'd been alone in the room when she entered. "Well, uh... Leo and I wanted to see where you worked and Darryl offered to bring us here," She said, covering quickly. "They went off through the cemetery and I thought I'd better come in and tell you we were here so you didn't think we were vandals," She told him as an excuse. She thought it sounded plausible enough. 

"Right," Cole said as his breathing finally started to level out and the adrenaline running through him subsided.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Piper asked him again, still concerned. "If there's something that happened..."

Cole shook his head. "You just caught me sleeping on the job, I guess," He admitted sheepishly. "Believe me, I normally don't do that," He said. He lifted his hand, intending to run his hand through his hair, but he paused a moment, glancing at his palm. There was still a burn there, just like in his nightmare. 

"Cole? What is it?" Piper asked, wondering what he was staring at. She looked over and noticed the burn. "How did that happen?" 

"I... I don't know," Cole admitted softly. 

Darryl and Leo made their way into the monitor room. "Is everything okay in here?" Darryl asked as they walked in. 

"Yup. Everything's fine," Piper assured, not wanting them to give Cole any more reason to worry. 

"Sorry to just barge in on you like this," Darryl said to him. "We thought you might like the company," He lied. 

"Yeah, thanks," Cole said absentmindedly. He was still baffled as to how his hand had gotten burnt. That nightmare had seemed so real... perhaps it was?

"Whoa, didn't realize you were having a party in here tonight. I would have brought more coffee," Valerie said from the doorway. True to her word, she had two coffees in hand. "What's going on?"

"We just wanted to see where he worked," Piper said to her. She was a little suspicious of the other woman, especially considering her timing. "Did you just get here?" 

"Yeah," Valerie said as though it were obvious. She walked over to Cole and put down the coffees on the table. "Sorry that the coffee's from Rea's tonight," She said apologetically and leaned in to kiss Cole.

Piper gave a look to the others. The other demon had been at Rea's when they'd scryed. Without letting anyone get out another word, Piper lifted her hands and froze the room. 

"Did you just... Did you _freeze_ them?" Darryl asked, looking at the pair who were frozen as their lips were about to touch. 

"She's the demon!" Piper accused, crossing her arms. 

"Piper, I've known her for over half a year now," Darryl said to her. "She's on the force with me. She's friends with Sheila," He listed off, not wanting to believe it. "You're going to have to give me something really compelling before you pull out an accusation like that." 

"What more evidence do we need?" Piper asked him. "Look, she was at the diner where you said the other demon was that we scryed for," She said, motioning to the coffee cups.

"Yeah, that's because it's the only place in town still open this late," Darryl explained. "The place gets a lot of people just passing through like truckers. Your demon could have been anyone." 

"We found the demon by using one of the athames," She reminded him. "It wouldn't have just been someone passing through, but it was the demon it belonged to -- a demon that had been in Cole's house." 

"Guys, we can't just keep them frozen forever," Leo was quick to remind the pair. "Honey, Darryl's right. We don't have enough to go on right now. She could be an innocent that was just at the wrong place at the wrong time," He told her gently. 

Piper sighed. "We could prick her finger and see what color she bleeds?" She offered. 

"If she's only part demon, she'll still bleed red _and_ she'll be suspicious," Leo reminded. "And if she _is_ a demon, you may not be able to take her on without the power of three. We need to know what we're dealing with first." 

Piper knew he was right, especially if there was more than one demon in the town. She glanced over to the pair. "Alright. I'll unfreeze them," She grumbled, knowing she didn't have much choice otherwise. They would unfreeze on their own eventually. "Everybody ready?" She asked and once Darryl and Leo nodded, she lifted her hand and unfroze the room. 

Valerie finally kissed Cole, but his heart wasn't really in it after the apparent nightmare he'd had. His mind was still elsewhere down in that dark cave. "Hey," Valerie said to him softly, putting her hands on his. "You okay? You look like you're a million miles away."

Cole snapped out of it a little. "Hmm? I'm sorry," He apologized. "I'm just a little out of it tonight," He admitted. 

"So I see," She told him. "Are you okay?" She asked him again. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Cole shook his head. "I'm fine. You were right this morning that I should have gotten more sleep," He admitted.

"I usually am right," Valerie teased. She glanced over to the trio, who were just sort of staring at the couple. "Uh... Since you've got so much company, maybe I should go," She offered. "I wouldn't want to intrude and I know your ex's family isn't going to be in town too long--"

"It might be longer than you think," Piper was quick to say, sounding a little standoffish. 

Leo was quick to diffuse the situation. He smiled and put an arm around his wife. "What Piper means to say is that we're having a great time here. We're probably going to stay here a few more days," He mentioned. "Maybe we can have that double date we talked about sometime," He suggested and Piper subtly elbowed him in the stomach. 

Valerie looked to Cole, who gave a little shrug.

"That sounds great guys, but I really should be getting back to work here," Cole said, motioning to the monitors. "We can maybe talk about that tomorrow?" He suggested. 

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Piper asked him, still concerned about him. 

"Don't worry. I'll stick around for a while with him. He'll be in good hands," Valerie assured her with a smile. 

"Will he now?" Piper muttered and it was Leo's turn to give his wife a little nudge. 

"See you two tomorrow," Darryl said to Cole and Val with a wave, already ushering Piper and Leo out the door. Once they were back in the graveyard and headed back to the car, Piper finally opened up about what happened. 

"I don't like this. He was screaming in there in his sleep and he's got a burn on his hand that he can't explain," She told her husband and friend. "And now we're just leaving him in there with a possible demon!" She'd never been as concerned for Cole as she was now that she knew him to be an innocent. "At least when he was demonic or the Source, he could defend himself. If she tries something, he's defenseless." 

"Piper, we don't know that it's Val," Darryl reminded. "Should we go check out the diner or do you guys want to go home and do that map thing again?" He asked them. 

She sighed, mulling over their choices. She didn't really like the idea of leaving any stone unturned now that they knew they were dealing with multiple demons. "Whoever it was could be long gone by now. I think we should go home and scry again... maybe check out the rest of those athames," She mentioned. There was a whole box full that potentially belonged to several demons and they'd only used two to scry so far. 

"I think it's time to let your sisters know," Leo told his wife as they were getting into Darryl's car. 

"Honey, we've been through all that. You know how that's going to go over. I'm still hoping that we won't have to involve them if we don't have to," Piper told him. She dreaded the thought of telling either of them, but especially Phoebe. "We will find the demons on our own and I'll blow them up to vanquish them and everything will be fine." Even saying it she wasn't sure she believed it, but she had to be optimistic. 

"And the Nexus under Cole's cottage?" Leo pointed out. 

"One thing at a time," Piper said to him with a frown. They just needed time to figure out a plan that didn't involve the power of three. She just hoped that it was time that they would have.


	19. Chapter 19

"I feel like one of us needs to keep checking in on the Nexus under Cole's basement," Piper said to her husband. It was one of the few times that Piper really missed Leo's ability to orb. They would have been able to keep tabs on the basement and Cole that way to make sure no demons were lurking about. 

"Well, I can go there and offer him more help while he's getting his place fixed up. I know there are a million things that still need to be done to that cottage," Leo said with a shrug. He didn't know what else that they could feasibly do without warranting suspicion from the former demon. The pair were already scrying around the clock to try to locate the demons in the town, but without the ability to orb there immediately, they were losing them. 

"Good. And while you're doing that, I can get Wyatt to orb me back home so that I can make some potions - just in case," Piper said to him. 

"What kind of potions?" Leo asked, confused. "We don't even know what we're dealing with yet." 

"So we'll cover our bases," Piper offered. "I think we might still have some of that vanquishing potion that Paige came up with for Cole when he had all of those demonic powers from the wasteland--"

"The one that didn't actually work on him?" Leo asked her. 

"Well, it certainly worked to put a hole in the floor of the attic," She reminded him. "I know it won't work on any other demons since it was made using his blood, but the basic recipe is a good place to start with," She offered. She knew that Paige had modified it to account for the plethora of demonic powers that Cole had at the time, so chances were that it would at least do some damage to any demon even without a bit of flesh or blood. 

"Whatever you think is best," He told her. 

"I'll try not to be too long," She said to him. 

"Are you going to take Chris with you too?" Leo asked her and Piper thought about it a moment. 

"I probably should. If you're going to head over to Cole's I don't want Sheila to have her hands full here," She mentioned. With Darryl and Sheila's kids at school for the day, Piper didn't want to saddle the expectant mother with babysitting duties. 

"Good idea," He agreed. The sooner they got things over with, the sooner they'd be out of Sheila and Darryl's house. They didn't want to overstay their welcome, especially since the baby was due soon. Leo got up and grabbed his coat to get going over to Cole's.

Cole was still fast asleep in his bed at the cottage after having worked the night shift at the graveyard, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant slumber. 

"Where am I?" 

Cole once again found himself in what appeared to be a dark, underground cave. The candles were surrounding him once more and the hooded figures wasted no time in beginning their chants as they formed the outer circle.

"Please," Cole begged, falling to his knees in the circle, his skin morphing crimson before his eyes. "Why are you doing this?" 

He felt like something else was being forced within him - something dark and heavy and somehow so familiar. Every bone in his body was practically screaming at him to fight his way out of this. He needed to break the circle - flames be damned. He reached out, his hand flickering between red and his natural hue as he tried to push away one of the candles surrounding him. The flame on the candle he was trying to knock over unnaturally adjusted itself to burn his hand until he recoiled in pain. The flame then shot back up in the air with the others. Cole let out a guttural cry, not just from the pain of the burn, but from the pain of what was being done to him. 

Leo had made his way over to the cottage and had heard the scream from outside on the porch where he was waiting for Cole to answer the door. It was all the invitation he needed to kick it in. 

"Cole?" He shouted, looking around the cottage for him. He ran towards the stairs, pausing for a moment to decide if he wanted to go up towards the bedroom or down to the basement where the Nexus was. Another pained yell from Cole prompted him to go upwards and he took the stairs two at a time, unsure of what he was going to be rushing into. He went into the bedroom and saw Cole, writhing on the bed with a pained look on his face. "Cole?" He went over to him and for the hint of a moment, Leo could have sworn that Cole resembled Belthazor. "Cole, wake up," He urged him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

Cole awoke gasping for air and looking absolutely terrified. He was covered in a cold sweat and looking around wildly, trying to discern what had happened. It took him a moment to gather his composure and realize he wasn't in that cave, but rather his own bedroom. "Leo?" He finally asked, realizing he wasn't alone. 

"Yeah... Sorry for barging in," He apologized. "I thought something was wrong. I could hear you screaming from outside, so I kicked in the door," He admitted. "Are you alright?"

"I... I don't know," Cole admitted to him. He looked down to his hand, thankful to see that it wasn't red, but he was a little startled to see another fresh burn there. He looked from the wound and then back to Leo. "You're going to think I'm crazy." 

"Try me," Leo offered. 

Meanwhile, Piper had gotten the boys ready and Wyatt had orbed them back to the manor, leaving Sheila to have some much needed alone time. Piper had brought some of the athemes back with her in order to consult with her sisters about them. She knew it was risky, but she knew they were running out of options. Plus, she figured that they might help to keep an eye on the boys while she was trying to make potions. As soon as she'd gotten there, she called them. Within a few minutes, Paige had orbed herself and Phoebe to the manor and into the attic with Piper and the boys. 

"I'm guessing you didn't get Darryl's demons?" Paige asked her sister as Phoebe made a beeline for the boys. 

"There they are! Did you guys have fun with Darryl Jr. and Mikey?" Phoebe asked her nephews as she knelt down to give them both a hug. 

"Uh huh," Wyatt said to her with a nod. 

"Why don't you tell me about it," She suggested, as Piper and Paige continued.

"We didn't get Darryl's demons, no," Piper admitted to her youngest sister. "There are at least two of them in town, maybe more. Every time we scry for them, we never seem to get there in time. I brought some of the athemes with me and I was thinking maybe we could make some potions that I could take back with me."

"Or we could just use them to scry for the demons and I could orb us there and we could vanquish them on the spot," Paige offered, thinking that was the most obvious solution. 

Piper was still hesitant though. "I don't know if that's the best idea. I mean, we don't even know what we're up against and it's been a while since we've even needed to use the power of three." 

"All the more reason to go ahead and get it over with. We're not getting any younger, lady!" Paige told her with a smirk, just as Phoebe was scrambling to get up and walk over to her sisters quickly, leaving the kids for a moment. 

"Piper, why are Wyatt and Chris telling me they've met Cole?" Phoebe asked, already seeming nervous at the thought. 

"What? Oh, you know, that's not an uncommon name," Piper was quick to dismiss. 

"You didn't answer my question," Phoebe said to her, still on edge. 

"There is someone in Darryl's town named Cole," Piper admitted and she technically wasn't lying about that. "The boys met him the other night." Really, without his memories or any of his powers, she justified to herself that she really wasn't lying too much. 

"So it's not my Cole?" Phoebe asked once more to make certain. 

" _Your_ Cole?" It was Paige's turn to be surprised and her eyebrows nearly shot up to her hairline. 

"He's not... I mean, not _my_ Cole. My former... my ex--" Phoebe was a little flustered as she stammered on. "You know what I meant," She finally settled on.

"Believe me, we vanquished him for good in that parallel world," Paige assured her sister. "You don't have to worry about him coming after us anymore." 

"I'm not so sure that's what she was worried about," Piper admitted, seeing how flushed Phoebe's cheeks were. "Honey, do you still have feelings for Cole?" 

"Piper, don't be ridiculous," Paige interrupted, not giving Phoebe the chance to answer. "She's got the perfect guy with Coop and Cole is long gone." 

"Phoebe?" Piper asked her again and her sister averted her gaze. 

"I don't know," She admitted to them quietly. "I thought I was completely over him, but... I don't know. For a while, it was like I could still feel him around sometimes... just every once in a while I'd be able to sense him. And for the past few months, I haven't been able to sense him around, which you'd think I'd be relieved right?" She said to them, beginning to pace the length of the attic much as Cole had months ago when presented with the choice from the Angel of Destiny. "And I love Coop. I'm _in love_ with Coop," She insisted quickly, but to Piper's ear, it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that. "And like Paige said, Cole is dead and gone, so it doesn't matter." 

Paige was trying her hardest not to look completely horrified by Phoebe's confession, but Piper wasn't all that surprised. 

"Paige, can you take the boys downstairs for a little while please? I think we need to talk," Piper said to Phoebe, hoping that she wasn't going to regret this.

Sheila was alone at home, enjoying the peace and quiet that an empty house was affording her. It wouldn't be long now until the baby would be there and quiet time would be non-existent for a while. She was curled up on the couch with a throw blanket over her and she was halfway through the novel she was reading when the doorbell rang. She sighed.

"So much for peace and quiet," Sheila said softly to herself before putting her bookmark in her book and tossing her blanket aside. She got up carefully from the couch and made her way to the front door. "Valerie? What's up? I thought you were working today?" She asked her, stepping aside to allow her inside.

"Oh, I am," Valerie assured her as she closed the door behind herself. She reached out and grabbed Sheila's arm and soon the two disappeared, leaving the Morris house empty.


	20. Chapter 20

"I've been having these dreams," Cole began to tell Leo. "Well, more like nightmares. It starts off and I'm in this dark underground cave. I'm in the middle of a circle of candles and there are these people in these hooded robes. I don't know if they're speaking Latin or in tongues or what. I can never really make it out," He admitted. "But in the nightmare, I'm in a lot of pain and then my skin turns red. Not just like a sunburn, but _bright red_. I always try to get out of the circle and the flames from the candles end up burning me. When I wake up, I have these," Cole admitted, showing Leo his palm where he had two burns - one of them fresh and blistering. 

Leo looked at Cole's palm and he knew that what he was experiencing was more than just a nightmare. It was some sort of dark ritual to resurrect Belthazor. "How long has this been going on?" He asked him seriously. 

"Only a few days," He admitted. "Maybe I just haven't been getting enough sleep with trying to get the new house together. I don't know... You probably think I'm nuts, right?" 

Leo shook his head. "No, no I don't," He assured. "Why don't you go ahead and get a shower and get dressed and I'll go make some coffee or we can go to that diner and get some breakfast... maybe pick up some burn cream somewhere in town," He offered, thinking that might help to calm him down and buy himself a little time to figure out what he was going to tell him. 

Cole gave a small nod. "Yeah, that sounds good," He agreed, getting up to do just that.

"I'll just be downstairs waiting," Leo told him. He wanted to go down to check the basement before they went anywhere. With someone trying to resurrect Belthazor, Leo knew that it might be connected to the Nexus. He left Cole to get ready as he headed down the two flights of stairs all the way down to the basement. 

Back at Halliwell Manor, Paige had taken the boys downstairs to get a snack and to keep them entertained while Piper and Phoebe stayed in the attic.

"Maybe we should sit," Piper suggested, leading Phoebe over to the small couch. She still wasn't sure of what exactly she was going to tell her, but she figured they both might benefit from sitting down during this whole thing. 

"Piper, you're scaring me. What's going on?" Phoebe asked cautiously. She knew something had been up with her sister for a while, but she'd been kept in the dark as to what. 

"It's a long story," Piper admitted to her sister with a heavy sigh. She didn't even know where to start. "Before I tell you, I just want you to know that I'm sorry," She apologized, reaching out to place a hand on Phoebe's. 

When their hands touched, Phoebe jumped a little, the premonition nearly overloading her senses. The image of Leo being flung against a wall like a rag doll appeared in her mind along with Sheila crying out in pain and clutching her pregnant belly in the middle of the cement floor a few feet from where Leo had landed. The premonition ended as swiftly as it had began and Piper looked at her sister with concern, unsure of what she'd just seen. 

"What is it? Was it a premonition?" Piper asked her, a little apprehensively.

"Leo's in trouble. Sheila too. She was in labor," She said to her, already getting up to hurry to get Paige. "I think there may be a demon that has them both." 

Piper was up quickly to follow her sister downstairs. She was a little relieved that she hadn't seen Cole in the vision, but she knew she'd have to explain all of that later. "Paige!" She called out.

The youngest sister came out of the kitchen with the two little boys following. "What's up?"

"We need to get to Darryl's place now--" Phoebe said, but Piper cut her off. 

"We can't just leave the boys," Piper reminded and she wasn't overly fond of taking them into a situation with demons. 

"Henry's got the day off. I'll be right back," Paige assured. She took both Wyatt and Chris by the hand and orbed them back to her place. She returned about a minute later by herself. "All set," She assured. It had been a while since they'd had to deal with a real emergency situation, but Henry hadn't protested when he'd been presented with the kids and told to watch them and that she'd explain it all to him later. Paige was grateful that he was so understanding of the urgency of the situation. 

Phoebe and Piper went on either side of Paige and held onto her. "Get us to Darryl's house in Wood's Close," Piper told her and Paige didn't need to be told twice. The Charmed ones disappeared from the manor in a show of bright lights. They reappeared in the foyer of Darryl's home. 

"Wow, you've not even been here and you even got us inside," Piper said, a little impressed with how her sister's powers had grown over the years. Wyatt had only been able to orb them outside the house his first time getting them there.

Paige gave a little shrug and smiled. "It's a gift." 

"Guys, this isn't what I saw," Phoebe was quick to chime in. 

"Sheila?" Piper called out, hoping that maybe Phoebe's premonition hadn't been happening in real time. "I'll check upstairs. You guys check around here," She suggested to them, hurrying up the stairs to look around for her. 

Phoebe went towards the basement and Paige explored the main floor of the Morris household. The three met back right where they started, coming up empty handed.

"Was there anything else about your vision that might help us figure out where they are?" Piper asked her sister and Phoebe thought about it a moment. 

"It was pretty dark. I don't think there were any windows or furniture. It might've been in a basement," She admitted. "But I was just down there and this wasn't the one I saw." 

"Oh no," Piper realized. She went over to pick up the spare set of keys she knew they kept for Sheila's car. "Come with me," She urged her sisters. She hadn't been to Cole's place yet, but she knew it was just up the road, close enough that Leo had walked there this morning. "They've got to be at the Nexus." She didn't know how she was going to explain everything to them, but there was no time. She just hoped they weren't too late.

"Leo?" Cole had gotten cleaned up and had gone to the main floor of the cottage, but Leo was nowhere to be seen. "Leo?" He called out again. He took a glance out the front door to make sure he wasn't waiting outside for him before going back inside. He heard a crash coming from the basement and ran towards it, rushing down the stairs. 

"Oh my god," Cole said, taking in the sight before him as he stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Leo was sprawled out on the floor, having hit the wall pretty hard. Cole went over to him and checked his pulse, relieved to find that he still had one. "Leo, wake up," He urged, but he didn't stir. He was knocked out cold. Cole looked over and noticed Sheila Morris was in the middle of his basement, clutching at her tummy and groaning as a wave of pain hit her. He hurried over to her side. 

"Sheila? How did you get in here? What's wrong? Is it the baby? What happened to Leo?" He asked, kneeling next to her. 

"It's Val," She said, clutching at his arm. "She brought me here. She gave me something and my water broke," She quickly explained and Cole was confused. He looked around the basement. 

"It's just us," He said, seeing nothing else out of the ordinary other than a knocked out Leo.

"Think again, Belthazor," Val said as she came up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

Cole was startled, uncertain of where she'd come from. He hadn't seen her there a moment ago. "Val, we need to get Sheila to a hospital," He said to her as he stood up to face her. 

"Give it _up_ , Belthazor," She said to him as she circled the pair. "Sheila is exactly where she needs to be. It's just a pity that you resisted your transformation before it could be complete. You'd be a great asset to us." 

"What the hell are you talking about? Transformation? Who's us?" He asked her.

"The new order, of course. We're rebuilding the ranks - ensuring a darker tomorrow by taking preventative steps today. You would have been a welcome addition. The legend of Belthazor is still told."

Cole didn't know what to do with her. "This is serious. Sheila needs a doctor _now_ ," He told her again, unsure of what she was talking about.

"You can stop with the act, Belthazor--"

"I don't know why you keep calling me Belthazor, but that's not my name. You know who I am," Cole insisted to her. He wondered if his girlfriend was having some sort of serious mental break. She wasn't letting up on this nonsense.

"That's right. I _do_ know who you are. I know _exactly_ who you are," Valerie told him with a smirk. "But apparently you still don't have a clue," She said to him. 

Sheila let out another cry of pain and Cole was finished with whatever game Valerie was playing. He leaned down and scooped Sheila up in his arms, ready to carry her upstairs and out to the car to get her some help. "It's okay. I've got you. We'll call Darryl on the way," He assured her.

"I can't let you do that, Belthazor," Valerie said to him. With a wave of her hand, the door to the basement at the top of the stairs slammed shut. "She needs to have the baby here. I have spent far too much time in this awful little town to let you screw up the plan now," She said to him. "Put her down." 

Cole was a little shocked that the door had shut, but he thought there had to be a logical explanation for it. The cottage was pretty drafty, after all. "Val, I don't know what's wrong with you, but Sheila is in labor. She needs a hospital. She's not having this baby in my basement." He pushed past her with Sheila still in his arms to go up the stairs. He only made it a few steps up when Valerie shimmered in front of him, blocking their exit. 

"That's _exactly_ where she's having it," She said with a satisfied smirk as the color drained from Cole's face. 

"How did you..." He glanced behind him and then back to where she was before him. Before he could react, Valerie reached out, touching the two of them. She shimmered them right back down to the middle of the basement. The world blurred a moment for Cole and he was a little disoriented to find himself back on the concrete floor instead of the stairs. 

"I'm asking you nicely. Put her down," Valerie said to him again. 

"Do what she says," Sheila insisted to him, knowing it was a futile effort. "Cole please. Just put me down," She said. Under any other circumstance, Sheila wouldn't have wanted to back down so easily, but she had her child to think about.

Cole gently put Sheila back on the basement floor and stayed by her side. He was still bewildered. He looked up to Valerie. "What are you? Why are you doing this?" 

"The child needs to be born on a Nexus," She explained as though he should already have a clue as to what she was talking about. "She'll be more susceptible to the influence of either side then. We'll have a better chance of swaying her to evil--"

"Evil?" 

"Val's a demon," Sheila provided, having already put that one together herself. "And she's not laying a hand on my baby." 

"We'll see about that, Sheila," Valerie told her. "Who's going to stop me?"

"I'm sorry, did you just say a _demon_?" Cole interjected, still struggling to keep up. 

Valerie rolled her eyes. "The mighty Belthazor is incredibly disappointing in person and pretty slow on the uptake. Yes. I'm a demon. I think I liked you better when I thought you were trying to con us all with this memory thing," She admitted. 

Sheila let out another cry of pain as another contraction hit her.

"Move," Valerie said to Cole, kneeling down to check on her progress. 

"Get away from me," Sheila snapped at her and Cole took the opportunity to grab Valerie by the arm. 

"You heard her," He told her.

Val glanced to where he had hold of her arm and smirked a little. She reared back, hitting him without warning and sending him flying backwards towards the wall with far more force than a normal human could ever muster. He hit the wall hard and his arm made a sickening crunch when he landed against it. 

"Cole!" Sheila cried out worriedly, but she could see that he was still moving at the very least. He had a cut on his temple where he'd hit his head and his arm was throbbing, but the adrenaline coursing through him was enough to keep him up. He got up on his feet, knowing that if Valerie was capable of hurting him like that, he couldn't allow her to hurt Sheila or her baby, even if it killed him.

"This place is where that Nexus is?" Phoebe asked as Piper pulled up to the old cottage. She'd gotten them there in record time and she quickly parked the car next to Cole's in the driveway.

"No wonder you found all those athemes here," Paige said, making a face as she looked at the outside of the place. "It's creepy." 

"It's not creepy. It's just old," Piper said to her.

"Yeah, if you live in a horror movie," Paige commented. 

Piper shook her head. She was the first to get out of the car and lead the way to the house. "Come on," She urged her sisters. She went to the front door and was thankful to find it already unlocked. She went in first with Phoebe and Paige not far behind. 

"Is someone actually living here?" Phoebe asked, looking around. It honestly looked pretty cozy inside, despite the rustic exterior. 

"Yes," Piper said, hoping not to have to go into it any further than that. 

"Looks like the stairs are over here," Paige commented, leading the way. 

"You know, there's something that I haven't really told you guys about this place and who lives here," Piper quickly began. She was a little panicked about what they were going to find or rather _who_ they might find once they went down there.

"The door's locked," Paige said as she tried it.

"Watch out of the way. Go go go," Piper urged her sister, shooing her until she did so. Once she was safely out of the line of fire, Piper blew up the door with the flick of her hands, sending shards of wood flying. She hurried down the stairs, leading the charge. There was no time to tell them. 

Sheila was in the middle of the room, trying to do her breathing exercises to get her through the pain of the contractions and to keep herself calm as tears fell from her eyes. 

Cole was grappling with Valerie, his back towards the sisters. He knew he needed to subdue her somehow so that he could get both Sheila and Leo out of there and to safety. Whatever she was, she wasn't who she seemed and she was dangerous. None of them were really startled when the door blew up, already too preoccupied with each other.

"Which one's the demon?" Paige asked, none of them really able to get a good look. 

"She is and I _knew_ it had to be her," Piper said, though she knew it wasn't the time to gloat about her hunch, especially when Cole went flying backwards again from another hit from Val and he crumpled against the wall, down for the count. Once she was standing by herself, Piper knew it was time to make her move. "Hey!" She called out to her and Valerie turned to face them. Piper used her powers to create an explosion, hoping it would be that easy. Though her powers were always getting stronger, it wasn't enough to vanquish the demon. It barely made Valerie take a step back from the force. 

"Freeze her!" Phoebe urged her sister and Piper did just that or at least she tried. Valerie wasn't frozen for long though, breaking free of it within seconds. 

"Seriously?" Piper asked annoyed. It wasn't entirely unheard of for demons to build an immunity to her freezing powers and she supposed Valerie was no exception. She was barely fazed and was already conjuring up an energy ball in her hands.

"Do we know what kind of demon she is?" Paige asked. 

"Nope," Piper informed them just as they ducked, dodging the energy ball that came flying their way. 

"Maybe try the basic power of three spell?" Phoebe suggested. 

"Couldn't hurt," Piper agreed. 

"Yeah. Why mess with a classic? Hold on," Paige said. She took hold of her sisters and orbed them out, just as another energy ball came flying towards where they had been on the stairs. They orbed back in behind Valerie on the ground floor of the basement.

"The power of three will set us free. The power of three will set us free," The three sisters repeated over and over again. Cole was already stirring again on the ground, looking over at the scene unfolding before him. Valerie was screaming in pain as she erupted in flames before exploding out of existence. Cole was wide eyed at what he'd saw, focusing on the spot where Valerie once stood. 

Piper hurried down the stairs and went over to Leo and Cole on the floor while Piper and Phoebe went to Sheila's side. Piper checked on her husband first. "Paige, I'm going to need you to heal Leo," She called out to her sister before getting up to go over to Cole. He was still sitting on the floor, but he tried to back up further against the wall as she approached. "It's okay," Piper assured him. 

"What are you?" He asked her. He was absolutely terrified at everything that had happened and still in a state of shock. 

"I'm so sorry," Piper apologized to him. "It'll all make sense in a minute," She promised. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it before reading it out loud.

"No powers but emotions high. A mortal confused he knows not why. Help him with his destiny. Bless him with his memory," She said, hoping that the tweaks to the spell would work and that it wouldn't backfire as it had when Paige had cast it on her. Whatever magic the Angels of Destiny had used on him had to be different than Leo's elder powers had been when he'd taken Piper's memories. Cole's had been a complete memory wipe from the start. 

Cole felt the memories rushing back and crashing over him like waves threatening to drown him. Over a hundred years worth of misdeeds and a few years of virtue filled his mind and he looked at Piper with newfound recognition. 

"Oh my god."

Phoebe's voice cut through the air as she stood a few feet away, staring in disbelief at her ex-husband. 

"Phoebe," Cole said softly and Piper could see how heartbroken he looked and she wasn't sure if it was because of Valerie's betrayal and loss or her sister's presence.

Paige had gone to Leo's side to heal him. She helped him to his feet and looked over to where Phoebe was directing her gaze, finally noticing Cole. "Piper, don't just stand there. Freeze him!" She urged. 

Sheila let out a cry of pain as she experienced another contraction, drawing all of their attention. Phoebe snapped out of it enough to turn her focus back to Sheila and she knelt down beside her. 

"Someone needs to get her to a hospital," Cole said quietly to Piper. "She said Valerie gave her something to induce her labor. She wanted her to have the baby on the Nexus," He admitted. He was still pretty shell shocked but he still wanted to make sure she was taken care of. 

"Paige, can you orb Sheila to the hospital?" Piper asked her sister, but Phoebe shook her head.

"I don't know if there's time," Phoebe said. Both she and Paige had trained as midwives and she knew that the contractions were pretty close together. 

"All the more reason to go _now_ ," Piper emphasized, motioning Paige to hurry up. "Leo, go with them," She suggested and he went over and gently lifted Sheila up. Paige went over and placed a hand on both of them to orb them all to the hospital. 

"Someone needs to call Darryl," Cole said to Piper, cradling his arm close to his chest. 

"You're hurt," Piper realized, seeing the blood from his temple and the way he was keeping his arm close to his body, like he was trying not to injure it further. "We should get you to the hospital too." 

"It's fine," He dismissed. "You should both go--"

"Not until one of you explains what in the hell is going on here," Phoebe said. "Why is he back? And why aren't you surprised at all?" She asked her sister. She wanted answers and she wanted them _now_.


	21. Chapter 21

Cole looked from his ex-wife and then to Piper and back again. "We're not doing this right now," He told the both of them, trying to move past to get up the stairs. Things had happened so quickly and he was still trying to process it all, but he knew that they didn't have time for any of this.

"The hell we aren't!" Phoebe insisted, hot on his heels. "You don't just get to come back from the dead _again_ and decide we're not gonna talk about it!" She snapped.

Cole turned back to face her and Phoebe nearly ran into him at his sudden stop. He was over a foot taller than her, but she was still standing toe to toe with him, looking up defiantly. Cole sighed. He was already spent both emotionally and physically. He didn't want another fight on his hands. "I'm going to call Darryl. Someone needs to tell him Sheila's having the baby and that Valerie's been vanquished," He said to her evenly. "Then I think the two of you need to leave." 

"Cole--" Phoebe started, but he held up a hand to stop her. 

"I don't think Valerie was the only demon after Sheila and Darryl's baby," Cole mentioned, having gleaned as much from the conversation he'd had with Val now that he was able to put the pieces together. "You might need the power of three to protect them at the hospital." 

"He's right," Piper agreed. She could see that Cole had been through enough for one day. She didn't think he needed to be put through the ringer by Phoebe to top it off. 

"Since when do you two agree on _anything_?" Phoebe asked her sister incredulously. "And when did _this_ happen?" She asked, gesturing towards the two of them. 

"Deal with this," Cole finally said to Piper before going up the stairs. 

Piper sighed and she watched as her sister moved to follow, but Piper put a hand on her arm. "Let him go. There's a lot that I probably should have told you sooner, but I didn't know how you would take it." 

"And you thought _this_ was the way to do it?" Phoebe asked her. "What in the hell is he _doing here_ , Piper?" 

"I was going to tell you and then things just sort of spiraled out of control. The Angels of Destiny brought him back from his plane of existence between life and death," Piper said to her and Phoebe scoffed. 

"You expect me to believe that the _Angels of Destiny_ brought him back to life? Is that what he told you?" Phoebe asked her, not believing that for a minute.

"No. That's what the Angels of Destiny did. They said he was affecting the grand design too much from where he was. They wiped his memories and made him mortal and dumped him here," Piper admitted. "They came to me about it first and they offered me the choice as to whether or not he'd have his memories once he was made mortal--"

"Why would they ask you? Did they ask Paige too? Why wouldn't they leave it up to me?" She asked, not understanding that logic at all. Phoebe was the one that was closest to him. She would be the one most impacted by his return. 

"I guess that's something else I haven't told you," Piper admitted with a sigh. "You remember when the Elders took Leo away and wiped his memories and I was on the brink of death because of that thorn demon attack?" She asked and her sister gave a nod. "While I was out of it, I saw Cole. He was trapped in the same plane of existence between life and death that I was in. He was the one that helped me through it so that we could jog Leo's memory." 

"And you're just telling me _now_ years after the fact? How do you know he wasn't just playing some sort of long game in order to get free again? In order to worm his way back into our lives? Into _my_ life?" She asked her sister. 

"Because Cole's the one that made the choice to have his memories erased," Piper finally said to her sister. "He knows you're with Coop. Even back then when he was in that void, he just wanted you to be able to move on and to find someone and to not give up on love," She explained. "I know how it sounds, especially given everything over the years, but I believe him and I think you should too," Piper told her. She knew with how turbulent their relationship had been that it was a difficult thing to ask her sister to accept, but she truly believed Cole had changed or at least he was trying. She just hoped that he'd continue now that he had his memories again.

"He didn't want to remember his life at all?" Phoebe softly asked as that reality sunk in. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he wanted to be someone else. It wasn't like him. It had to be some sort of ploy. 

Piper shook her head. "I really think he wanted a fresh start - a chance to be a good person without everything he's done weighing him down."

"So why does he remember now?" Phoebe asked her. 

"I did a spell to restore his memories. We just vanquished his girlfriend right in front of him. I figured he was going to have some questions," She admitted. 

"That demon was his _girlfriend_?" Phoebe asked. 

From the hurt look Phoebe had at that admission, Piper knew maybe she shouldn't have let it slip at all. "It's not like he _knew_ she was a demon. She had Darryl and Sheila fooled too," Piper said, but she looked a little panicked as realization hit her. "Oh my god."

"What is it now?" Phoebe asked, seeing the way Piper had quickly gone pale. 

"We've gotta go. Come on. I need to talk to Cole _now_ ," Piper insisted, leading the way up the stairs and leaving no room for any argument from her sister. "Cole?" She called out as she bounded up the stairs. 

Cole walked over with his cordless phone still in hand as the sisters made it to the main floor. "I just got off the phone with Darryl. He's on his way to the hospital now," He assured them.

"That's great, but I think we may have another problem on our hands. Do you remember those drinks Valerie was making for Sheila?" Piper asked him and Cole quickly realized where she was going with that. 

"Do you know if she still has any at the house?" He asked her and Piper gave a nod.

"She's got at least two of them in the fridge as of this morning," She admitted. "Do you think you might be able to figure out what she was giving her?" 

"Wait, what drinks?" Phoebe interjected. "Oh my _god_! Was your demon girlfriend giving Sheila something to make her baby evil just like you and the Seer did with me?" She was quick to accuse. 

Cole tried not to wince at the mention of their lost child. "I don't know," He said through gritted teeth. He didn't bother correcting her that it was the Source that had been in control of him when all of that happened. He wasn't sure she'd believe him if he told her anyway. "That's what we're trying to figure out," He said before turning his attention back to Piper. It was far easier to deal with her for the time being at least. "I'm assuming the reason you and Leo came here was because of all the athemes we found in my basement?" He asked her, already knowing the answer to that now. "Do you still have them? I might be able to determine what kind of demon Valerie was from them... maybe figure out who she may be working for or with," He offered. 

"They're in a box at Darryl's in the guest room closet," She mentioned, knowing he knew exactly where she meant. He'd lived in that room for the past few months. 

"I'll head over there now then," Cole told the pair. "Do you have a car to get to the hospital?" 

"We brought Sheila's, but I still think you need to come with us," Piper insisted, seeing the way he was trying not to move his arm much away from his chest. She was sure it was probably broken.

"I'm fine. Unfortunately for everyone involved, I think I'll live," Cole told them both as he went over and grabbed his keys, which also had a spare key to Darryl's house on them. "Feel free to let yourselves out. It apparently doesn't matter if you lock the door behind you," He mentioned. If any demons wanted to get in, they would anyway. Without giving either of them the chance to say anything else, he went out the front door and to his car. 

Piper sighed and watched him go. "We'd better get going too. I think Leo and I have only passed the hospital once since we've been here," She mentioned, hoping that she remembered the way there. "Did you see if Sheila's car has a GPS?" She glanced to her sister, who was still staring at the front door Cole had gone out and closed behind him. "Phoebe?" Piper tried again.

"Sorry," She apologized. "Let's just get out of here," She suggested, pushing aside all of her feelings for now. Things weren't finished between her and Cole - not by a long shot, but she knew that he and Piper were right - protecting Sheila and her baby had to come first.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. Truth be told, I had most of it written a month ago, but Avengers: Endgame honestly broke me. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things! Thank you to everyone for sticking with this story!

Cole spent the rest of the day going through the athemes and trying to discern what exactly was in the drink Valerie had been giving Sheila for months. From what he could tell, it thankfully didn't contain pure evil in liquid form like the one the Seer had given to Phoebe. It seemed that this drink had been formulated just to keep both Sheila and the baby nourished and to accelerate the pregnancy a bit. Without his powers, it had been difficult to find a way to test it, but pouring a bit of the green liquid on a houseplant had made it blossom rather than wilt and that had confirmed his suspicions about what it contained. He was thankful it wasn't noxious but he knew that would be of little comfort to the Morris family, all things considered.

He was trying to keep himself busy. He knew he couldn't think about how everything had been a lie with Val. Now that she was vanquished, he didn't think he'd ever get the full answers he needed. He was conflicted. He knew how easily Valerie could have killed him at any point, but she never had, not even when he fought back. She'd given him every chance to stand down and he was sure that was just another thing that would serve to haunt him for years to come. He'd only ever been in love with one woman until he met Valerie and now Val was dead and Phoebe was furious with him yet again. He simply couldn't win. He poured himself a drink - a vintage bourbon that had been a housewarming gift from Darryl and Sheila, as if all of their help over the past few months hadn't been more than enough. He downed the glass and poured himself another before turning his attention back to the task at hand with the athemes.

He'd soon gotten the call from Leo that Sheila had given birth to a healthy baby girl and that both mother and baby were resting comfortably. Leo was going to pick up Mikey and Darryl Jr. from school and stay with them as well. With that off his mind and with the promise that the Halliwells were going to stick around at the hospital to protect Sheila and the baby, Cole felt relieved, but he was still a little lost. When night fell, he knew he couldn't stay in his cottage any longer examining the athemes. It had been hours and he was getting nowhere anyway, aside from one atheme that he realized had belonged to him at one point long ago that he presumed they were using somehow in the Belthazor resurrection ceremony they'd tried. He left the athemes scattered on his dining table in the kitchen along with the now half empty bottle of bourbon and he went to get changed. He was mindful of his arm as he changed into his security uniform to patrol the cemetery. He craved some of the normalcy he'd established over the past few months and he knew that this was probably the closest he'd ever get to it again. 

Cole spent most of the night just walking around the grounds of the cemetery. He was still a little drunk from the bourbon, but the chill in the night air was sobering enough. Thankfully it wasn't a harsh winter night like those he'd braved before. The temperature didn't dip below freezing, a sure sign that the seasons were changing and that spring was on its way in soon enough. By the end of his shift, the sun was coming up and Cole was completely sober, if not hungover. He headed home, still feeling just as listless as before. He walked home, having not taken the car there because of how much he'd had to drink.

He went into the cottage and as soon as he'd stepped inside, the faint aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted it's way over to him. He walked into the kitchen and was unsurprised to see his ex-wife seated at his kitchen table, which was still littered with demonic athemes and that half empty bottle of booze. 

"Please, come on in. Make yourself at home," Cole told her dryly. 

"We need to talk," Phoebe said to him, ignoring the sarcasm in his tone. "I made some coffee. I figured we'd both need it," She mentioned, giving a glance at the bottle on the table.

"How did you get in here?" He asked her, but he moved over to the coffee pot all the same. "Did Paige orb you in?" He assumed as he reached for a mug from the cabinet. He noticed that the few dishes he'd had in the sink were washed and neatly put away. "Did you clean up in here? You hate cleaning." 

"I've been waiting a while and I got a little restless," Phoebe defended. "You're welcome," She added. It had given her something mindless and repetitive to do while she waited for him to return and to channel her nervous energy into. "And Paige didn't orb me in. She and Piper are still at the hospital. Piper gave me Sheila's car keys and Darryl gave me his spare key to your place," She explained. 

"Darryl's getting his key privileges revoked," Cole told her as he went over with his now full mug of coffee. He sat down across from her at the table. "Do we really have to do this right now?" He asked her. 

"Yes, we do," Phoebe insisted, thinking they'd put it off long enough as it was. "Look, I've had some time to think about it and none of it makes any sense. If the Angels of Destiny really did grant you another chance--" 

"I'm sorry... _If_?" Cole asked, interrupting her. "Phoebe, I'm here. I think we're a little past _if_." 

"You may be, but that doesn't mean it was the Angels of Destiny that did this to you," She told him. "Cole, if this whole thing was some sort of scheme--"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Jesus, Phoebe. _Seriously?_ " He snapped. His patience was wearing a little thin after the events of the past twenty four hours and he'd not even had a good night's sleep in days. 

"What else am I supposed to think?" Phoebe asked him defensively. 

"That maybe not everything is about _you_!" He told her. "Look, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for any of it. I tried to get them to send me back to that void and they wouldn't. The only choice I was given was whether or not I wanted to remember who I was and for everyone's sake _including yours_ I chose to forget. I didn't know they were going to drop me on Darryl's doorstep. I still don't know what kind of sick, twisted game they're playing," He admitted, motioning towards the ceiling.

Phoebe scoffed a little. "Sick and twisted? Really?" She asked him. "I think you know a lot more about that than they do," She mentioned. "Maybe it's just karma." 

"For all of the terrible things I've done?" Cole asked her, resisting the urge to roll his eyes again at her. "You know, once upon a time, you thought I could change... that I was capable of being good."

"And we all know how that turned out," Phoebe told him flatly. "I was wrong and you played me time and time again."

"I think you and I remember things very differently," He commented, taking a drink of his coffee before he said something he thought he might regret.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You became the Source of all evil, Cole," She insisted to him. "You chose to lie to me for months and then poison me with pure evil." 

Cole slammed his coffee mug down and a little of the hot brew splashed on the table. "You really think that was my choice? That I would _ever_ choose becoming the Source over being with you? Over our child?" 

"That's exactly what you did--"

"No, it wasn't," He told her. "I didn't _choose_ to become the Source, Phoebe. I was _possessed_ by the Source," He finally admitted. "And if you hadn't been so wrapped up with your own insecurities, you might have realized I wasn't okay," He snapped at her. The lack of sleep was wearing on his nerves and he was laying it all out there. 

"Excuse me? So now what? You're blaming me? It's my fault you became the Source?" Phoebe asked, a little taken aback. 

Cole shook his head. "You aren't listening. I took in the Hollow to save you and your sisters and I don't regret that... not at all," He said to her. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself had something happened to her or them. "But I didn't know that I'd be possessed by the Source afterwards. I tried to fight it, Phoebe. I tried to tell you. It was like the longer it went on, the less of me there was left." 

Phoebe could see how pained he looked. He was looking at her the same way he had when she told him she didn't love him anymore. Back then, it hadn't been enough to give her pause in her resolve against him, but now part of her wasn't so sure she could so easily dismiss it. 

"If this is true, why didn't you ever tell me?" She finally asked him.

"I tried. I tried when it was happening, but I wasn't strong enough. The Source took me over," He told her.

"You expect me to believe that absolutely none of our marriage was actually you?" She asked, giving him a look. She couldn't believe that for a second. 

"The Source had access to all of my memories. He could feel for you everything that I felt, but it wasn't _me_ in control. My love for you could only influence what he did. There were these moments of clarity... like when I wrote the letter to you that I was able to take enough control to do what I wanted, but it never lasted and I was never strong enough to tell you what was happening to me. I think maybe the closest I ever got was when I tried to transfer the Source over to the Wizard," He admitted to her. 

"And I vanquished him before you had the chance," Phoebe said softly. 

"That wasn't your fault. The Seer influenced you. She took advantage of your love for me just like she did with my love for you," Cole said to her. He knew there was no sense in playing the blame game now. What real difference would it make? 

"Let's say that I believe you about all of that," Phoebe mused. "Why didn't you tell me when you got back?" 

"Would it have mattered?" He asked her simply. It seemed like no matter what he had done after fighting his way out of the Wasteland that Phoebe was convinced he was evil. No excuse - even a true one - would have sufficed to save their love. "I don't think you would have listened to me even if I tried. I had all of those demonic powers then, but I thought if I could just show you I wasn't that man anymore that maybe my actions would speak louder than any excuse I could give you," He said to her. He had been wrong and it had cost him everything. 

Phoebe went quiet as everything he was telling her sunk in. "And what about after? Working with Jeric to mummify me? Trying to take over the manor? Creating that alternate reality where we never reconstituted the Power of Three?" 

Cole shook his head. "Some of it was all the demonic powers flowing through me, but some of it was just me accepting to be the person you already thought I was," He admitted to her. "I couldn't be good, right? And I didn't want to be evil, but that was all I was ever going to amount to, so why not embrace it? I'm not making any excuses. I'm not saying any of it was right. It wasn't and I know that, but before that, I was trying Phoebe. I really was and none of it mattered."

"Cole--" 

"Look, it really doesn't matter now anyway, right? You've remarried. You've found some sort of happiness, no matter how arranged it might've been--" 

"What?" Phoebe asked him sharply. "What in the hell are you talking about _arranged_?" 

"The Elders sent you Coop," Cole said with an easy shrug. "What else would you call it?" He asked her simply. 

"You have no right to question my marriage," She was quick to defend. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't I? Phoebe, I was trapped in a void between life and death. You put your ear to the ceiling in there and you can hear some pretty interesting things," He mentioned. 

She didn't want to admit that he was right. She didn't want to admit that it was something she'd given a lot of thought to as well. Coop was a good man and he loved her. She knew that. Still, the way he'd come into her life and the fact that the Elders had fated them to be together had never really felt right to her, even if she'd never dare voice that out loud. "I should go," She finally said. "This was a mistake."

Cole sighed, knowing he'd screwed this up. "Phoebe, wait. Look, I'm not trying to begrudge you your happiness with him," He told her. "All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy, even if it is with someone else." 

"I have a really hard time believing that," Phoebe told him. She glanced at his arm, seeing how he was still cradling it close to his chest. "I'm sending Paige over later to heal that arm. No arguments," She said as she got up from the table. She walked over towards the back door to let herself out, but paused. "You're not wrong... about the Elders, but that doesn't mean what Coop and I have isn't real," She said to him, but she sounded a little more like she was trying to convince herself of that. 

Without giving him another chance to speak, she let herself out, leaving Cole alone again. He glanced over at the half empty bourbon bottle on the table and poured a little in with his coffee. It was going to be a long day.


End file.
